On the evening of Thursday, May 11th, Ms.Olson’s choir classes put on their Annual Spring Concert in Valhalla. The theme for this year’s concert was “Musical Suitcase”, and the program included songs in many languages to take the audience on a trip around the world. Unfortunately, the choir concert faced many unexpected setbacks throughout the night.

The show’s misfortunes began when the power cut out at 6:38 PM, just twenty-two minutes before the concert was scheduled to begin. Due to the power outage, all of Valhalla’s lights and sound were no longer functioning, leaving the stage completely dark. 

Additionally, the district communicated that the concert would have to end by sundown at 8:00 PM, which was an hour earlier than the concert was scheduled to end. Despite their frustrations about the situation, Choir Teacher Ms.Olson, Principal Mr.Hicks, and Activities Director Mr.Willer were able to quickly adapt to the unexpected circumstances so that the concert could continue. 

Mr.Hicks and Mr.Willer addressed the lighting situation by opening the theater doors and getting as many battery-powered lights on stage as possible. Ms.Olson then addressed the time situation by announcing to the audience that the concert would be truncated (shortened) to an hour.

“In total, we had to cut four or five songs,” shares Chamber Chorale member Natalie Brayhan, “my own choir had to cut two of our songs, which we were really bummed about because we had been working really hard on them”.

Sadly, the choir concert’s misfortunes continued as in the middle of a song, the back of the bleachers fell down, making a loud noise that startled the audience and performers.

“During the little incidents, at first we didn’t know what to do,” shares Treble Ensemble member Ada Quan, “but eventually, we all got together,  put the little incidents aside, and just continued to sing and go with the flow.”

Ms.Olson continued to conduct her choir after the bleachers fell and exclaimed “You can’t make this up!” to the startled audience. As the choir continued its performance, the teachers present once again reacted promptly to the unexpected circumstances.

“After the back of the bleacher fell off,  [Mr. Hicks and I] tried fixing it but it was very loud to fix it and we didn’t want to make loud noise” shared Mr.Willer, “so it ended up being that Mr.Hicks and I had to hold it up for a couple of songs”

Nevertheless, the choir concert came to a touching end as seniors gave heartwarming messages to Ms.Olson at the end of their concert. In these messages, many seniors expressed both their gratitude for Ms.Olson and how important the choir department had been to them throughout their high school experience.

Despite the hectic events of the night, Irvington Choir’s students still gave an outstanding performance to their full-house audience. They showcased both their skills and professionalism as they adapted to the circumstances and were able to wrap up a concert that was certainly unforgettable.