For the first time in Grant High School’s history, the A Cappella choir placed third in the Oregon School Activities Association State Choir Championships in May. After months of practice and preparation in pursuit of this achievement, the Grant choir community is over the moon.
After winning the district competition in April, A Cappella qualified for the State Choir Championship at Oregon State University. Evan Mettler, a senior who sang at the most recent competition, attributes their success to Grant’s choir teacher, Mr. Eisemann: “He’s always helped us, trying to make us be the best singers we possibly can be,” he says. Mettler sees both his teacher and his peers as positive influences who have helped him feel included.
From being a part of the student-led group Hooked on Harmonics to performing with the Royal Blues, Mettler found his place in the Grant choir community. “Everyone was very inclusive and intentional about their work, and we all took it very seriously, but we also treated it as a community would, and that’s something that I’m very proud of ,” he says.
Mettler says that A Cappella began to practice for the competition as early as September. Upon hearing about their placement in the state championship, Mettler was shocked. He says, “I think I was very surprised, but looking back on it now, I should not have been surprised at all. We had such an amazing choir, led by Mr. Eisemann, and we were really able to bring everything together.”
However, despite A Cappella’s hard work, the competition has left the possibility for improvement within Grant’s choir community. Eli Peterson, a senior in A Cappella, believes that Grant could have placed higher under the right circumstances. Peterson says that performing at the competition was similar to a test: “In the sight-reading section, the main judge created her own rubric that she applied to sight reading, so it was kind of her own interpretation of the rubric, but it was kind of a weird one that’s never done before.” This new rubric prevented many teams, including Grant, from gaining full points due to minor errors. If the rubric used in past years had been in place, Peterson claims that Grant could have scored much higher.
Additionally, one of the songs that the A Cappella performed was seen as “too emotionally mature for high schoolers” by a particular judge. Peterson says, “Third is great, but we really had the potential to get first and that would have been really cool.”
Regardless of the controversy within the competition, Peterson still appreciates the opportunity to be a part of the choir community. By being able to connect and make music together, Peterson has seen new friendships bloom. He describes choir class as “ a moment where you can forget about all the other parts of school or stresses in your life, and just make some cool sounds.”As a senior close to graduation, Peterson says his only regret was not joining the choir sooner.
From hymnal books to at-home singing practice, all the hard work that the members of A Cappella put in has paid off by creating history for the Grant musical community. Mettler says that his favorite part of the experience is the people he’s surrounded by: “They make you feel wanted and make you feel seen, and it’s truly, truly an honor to have been a part of this.”
