By: Olivia McCown –
We have a crisis on our hands. Though it may be hidden behind the scenes, those in the performing arts at Southeast have noticed an issue that needs more of a spotlight.
The performing arts, unlike sports, have been lacking in numbers in the recent past. Specifically, in numbers of boys in choir.
“I can say specifically, seeing Southeast in the past, our numbers of boys are probably a little bit lower than they have been in the past,” said Samuel Rickert, one of the choir teachers at Southeast. “But it is important to know that numbers fluctuate all the time. Some years you have more, some years you have less.”
This year, the freshman choir, Singing Knights, has a total of 66 students, 17 of them are guys. The year before that, there were about 40 students, 11 of them were guys. The year before that, there were about 70 students, 22 of them were guys.
The numbers of student involvement in the choirs vary from year to year, but there is no single reason as to why that is.
Sophomore Conner Mendoza has been involved in choir since fourth grade and is currently in the sophomore swing choir, Knight Sounds.
“Not a lot of people are into choir as much because it’s not the typical thing to do in high school,” said Mendoza. “I do sports and I still find time for choir. It’s all about what you want to do. Some guys just aren’t into choir, and that’s okay. Because usually you grow up wanting to do sports, you don’t grow up wanting to sing and be in choir, you fall into it eventually.”
The performing arts, and choir specifically, always tend to be dominated by girls. Guys make up about a third of each large group choir at Southeast, with the other two thirds being girls. Especially in a sports-oriented school like Southeast, the performing arts are placed on the back burner for many guys who feel more comfortable doing sports than branching out and trying choir.
“Sometimes there are misconceptions about singing and some of those fall into gender stereotypes,” said Melissa Noonan, who has been teaching choir here since 1990. “I think there are probably quite a few male students who like to sing, but for one reason or another, have decided that it is a female thing to do. Of course, we know that’s not the case at all. That is a stereotype that we battle a little bit, but music should be inclusive to absolutely everyone. By being in choir, you are just taking a love of music and love of singing and sharing it in a group effort toward a common goal. I see no gender specification there at all, and I hope that others don’t either.”
The numbers of guys to girls in choirs have always been disproportionate, but more so at Southeast in the recent past because of incoming middle schoolers.
“Where we’re running into situations now is that some of our feeder schools also feed into Lincoln High,” said Noonan. “Many students who possibly would have come to Southeast for our music program, are now deciding to go to Lincoln High because of the IB Program [International Baccalaureate] and it makes it difficult to fit music into their schedule, which is awful. But we’re also losing out on great singers. The IB Program is a fantastic program, but it is very limiting as to what you can do with music. So we are working against that tide right now.”
The choir teachers do a lot of recruiting to get the word out about the opportunities available to students, either coming in to high school, or even within the school.
“I work with eighth grade students, go to their middle school, talk to them, saying ‘I’d love to have you sing’ and often times they will say yes,” said Rickert. “But I do a lot of recruiting in [our] school too. Finding guys in the hallway, talking to them, getting other students to find new singers, that’s worked really well.”
Other than gender stereotypes and academic opportunities, some may be reluctant to try out for choir because of uncertainty and fear. But according to the choir teachers, like Mrs. Noonan, that is no reason not to try.
“When I am talking to someone who is thinking about singing, I try to be very honest in that, when we rehearse, we work very hard and it’s pretty focused and disciplined,” said Noonan. “There is some work involved. But I also tell students not to let it intimidate you. We have a lot of students that say, ‘Well, I don’t read music.’ That’s what we will teach you. We will take singers where they are musically and find the best placement for them, then help you grow as a singer and as a musician. It is intimidating. Our voices are our instrument, and our voices are very personal. So when you audition and put yourself out there, it is really exposing a very personal part of yourself. We want to see where you are vocally and where you are with your musicianship, but then we can find the best placement for you so that you will be successful and have fun and progress.”
The opportunities available for choirs are going to be a little different next year. In the past few years, Knight Sounds has been a 10th-grade only swing choir, and Excalibur has been an auditioned group for 10th through 12th-grade. There used to be a non-auditioned group but it was lost due to budget cuts. Next year, Knight Sounds will still be 10th-grade only, but instead of being a swing choir, it will be a mixed choir, learning music from many different genres. Excalibur will be replaced with a new group called Black and Gold.
“Black and Gold is the new class we’re starting,” said Rickert. “It is a non-auditioned group for 10th through 12th graders, and it isn’t going to be a traditional choir class. There will be some singing involved and working on our voices, but also some different styles of music [and] some music technology involved. There will be maybe some instrument playing involved [too,] lots of different things.”
With all of the new possibilities available, anyone can find a place in the choirs offered at Southeast.
“Just give it a shot,” said Rickert. “It’s fun. No one is expecting you to be the best singer. It’s my job to teach you to sing. Often times, people think that they need to already be a good singer to join choir, and that’s not the case. If you are passionate and [have] a friendly, fun, inviting personality, we’d love to have you and we’ll help you get better.”