By: Brittney Clark –
Each year, the Performing Arts Department sponsors a variety show for students to share their talents with the school and community, in an event called Night of Knights. This year, auditions for approximately 50 acts were held between January 10th and 11th. Judges for these acts consisted of peers, teachers, and two prominent figures in the department, Missy Noonan and Carol Svoboda.
Junior Emma Lauterbach auditioned last year but didn’t make the cut, so she came back this year, twice as strong.
Lauterbach auditioned with two pieces. The first was with a small ensemble including herself as the lead vocalist, Ally Hall (11) on percussion, Abby Hall (11) on piano, Grace Pilker (11) playing violin, and Jacob Pilker (9) playing guitar. They performed Down in the Valley by The Head and the Heart.
“We wanted to do a group song because we all love music and we all wanted to try out together,” said Lauterbach. “Grace actually was the one who picked that song and we all agreed on it and thought it would be good.”
Lauterbach also performed a solo piece, with Ally Hall accompanying her on piano. She sang Dancing on My Own by Calum Scott.
“I really like that song and I wanted to try it for fun,” said Lauterbach. “My mom thought that I should do it and a lot of my friends and my choir thought I should try out on my own too. [Plus,] I had already known the song, so I didn’t have to learn any of the words.”
The opportunities and experience that come along with Night of Knights has been beneficial to both Lauterbach and her group members.
“We spent a lot of time [practicing,]” said Lauterbach. “Altogether, we probably spent two months in advance practicing. I’d say Jacob put in the most time practicing because he learned that guitar piece and it was a difficult piece for him to learn, but once he had it down, he had it really well.”
The time commitment might scare some away, but not Lauterbach. She remains open-minded to what the future holds, in terms of additional performances.
“I think it’d be really cool to pursue a career in singing but it’s hard to make it as a singer,” said Lauterbach. “Me and my sister actually talked about auditioning for The Voice next year because we both love to sing. It’s just a possibility [but] we’ll see.”
Likewise, for junior Kevin Tran, Night of Knights is an opportunity to showcase talents that aren’t often seen by others. This was his third time auditioning and he feels confident in his performance. Tran performed an interpretive dance piece to Desire by Years and Years.
“Desire” in this case, relates to how dance is something Tran has “always longed and hoped for” but isn’t “a dream [he] should strive for.”
“I chose this choreography out of all my others because it has meaning and the song builds up to something spectacular,” said Tran. “I can’t just go big all the time, I need to play with the crowd a little.
Anticipating how the audience would react was the biggest motivator during his practices.
“[Practicing for] my performance was honestly a two day thing,” said Tran. “I was practicing another dance but in the end I felt like it wasn’t something the crowd would like, so I told myself, ‘I need to make a new one to please the crowd.’”
Feeding into the crowd can become very tempting though.
“Honestly I don’t have plans to dance in the future for a job or anything like that, only just for fun, but if I get the opportunity — trust me I will take it,” said Tran. “It has always been my dream to dance professionally.”
Woven throughout the student body is an incredible amount of talent, that reveals itself in various outlets. Be sure to check out Night of Knights on January 26th, 28th, and 29th to catch a glimpse of all Southeast has to offer.