Students attend national music conference

Chadwick said students were able to attend sessions about topics such as breathing techniques and making classrooms more inclusive, as well as see once-in-a-lifetime performances. 

Haertel said he enjoyed the music education sessions.

“I learned about what a good culture of student leadership looks like from a panel of high school students and educators who explained a model where students are given solid training, which prepares them for bigger responsibility, and then they go on to train future leaders,” Haertel said. “This design helps students grow as leaders and gives teachers more time to focus on teaching.”

Another session he found valuable was about preparing music for the choir.

“As a director, it is valuable to break down elements from the piece of music, and then integrate these elements into warmups and exercises to set your choir up for success in performance,” Haertel said.

Fernau, Schafer, Charging Thunder, and Ellis took part in an Indigenous People's Immersion Choir conducted by Dr. Jace Kaholokula Saplan.

Charging Thunder was able to talk with composer William Linthicum-Blackhorse about the Lakota piece he wrote for the choir and dedicated to victims of the Robb Elementary mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. The song Linthicum-Blackhorse wrote is Čhanté Wašte Hokšila, or My King-Hearted Boy in English.

“This traditional Lakota lullaby was sung by mothers to their boys, but now it’s sung to any child as the Lakota language is dying out. Sometimes, songs like these are all that some tribes have left of the language, so singing them helps to keep the language alive,” Charging Thunder said.

When Charging Thunder met the composer, she told him her mother used to sing the lullaby to her.

“He appreciated this information and was grateful I had come to the performance. It made me emotional to hear it again with such a beautiful arrangement. During rehearsals, I couldn't bring myself to sing the climax of the song, because it was so powerful and moving, it brought me to tears. It was truly an amazing experience to hear so many people singing my language and appreciating the beauty of it,” Charging Thunder said.

The Indigenous People's Immersion Choir was Charging Thunder’s favorite session.

“This choir helped me feel like maybe there is hope to bring back not only my culture and tribal songs but other tribes' cultures as well. I'm glad this Immersion Choir was created because it was the highlight of my trip,” she said.

In addition to meeting the composer of the Lakota lullaby arrangement, Charging Thunder was impressed by the conductor.

“The conductor of the Immersion Choir, Dr. Jace Kaholokula Saplan, made learning about a culture fun and interesting. It was engaging and thoughtful the way he taught us the nuances of Hawaiian culture and language,” Charging Thunder said.