With their notes in their hands, their voices as angelic as anyone can ever imagine, their stand as mighty as a mountain, they sing as beautiful as birds. Choir students have been preparing for months for a performance at the Walt Disney Concert Hall on May 18.

“Choir allows these students to work as a team in a non-contact sport,” said Wendy Sarnoff, choir coach. “They can express themselves and it teaches choir a lesson to work together and it also creates courage in them. It makes them stronger and more communicative individuals.”

Venice High School’s Honor Choir and Hamilton High are the only two schools performing  at the Disney Concert Hall from LAUSD.

“Right now we are preparing for the L.A. Master Chorale,” said Honor Choir student Abby Barron. “It is like this big chorale that we do and we are actually quite grateful to be in it because we’ve been in it for four years and usually choir gets to do it like once every three years.”

As Barron was drifting off a bit with her sentence, her best friend Olympia Miccio another Honor Choir student helped her finish.

“And it’s at Walt Disney Concert Hall,” continues Miccio. “Which is like really fancy and also we are preparing to sing at different middle schools and stuff. We are singing at Paul Revere (Middle School), we are also singing at Palms (Middle School) and the Renaissance Fair.”

Their experiences in choir taught them a lot.

“Choir is like a second home for me,” said Andrew Torres.

Another Andrew but with a different last name shared his experience in choir as well.

“It’s like a second family to me,” said Andrew Caster. “It really is. It’s like a bond you won’t get anywhere else.”  

Although it was tough, these students keep working together as a team no matter what.

“It was very tough preparing,” said Caleb Wade. “Not everyone came at every lunch rehearsal but we did come together and now we are strong, put everything together and now we have three good songs.”

Believe it or not, some of the students have been in the Walt Disney Concert Hall more than once.

“This is my third and final year,” said Jacob Barillas. “It’s amazing like singing with other kids from like different high schools all over the county, apart from getting the opportunity of singing with other kids. It’s really beautiful to get to learn and hear music from different cultures and their languages.”     

Miccio thinks choir is such an experience that everyone should have once in their high school career.

”A lot of people come into choir without having any previous knowledge of music but Ms.Sarnoff helps us learn how to sing better and no matter what level you are at in music you will improve,” said Miccio. “It’s like a growing experience for everybody so they can get better.”

Barron said that even if you can’t sing, you learn how to sing in choir.

“Everyone here is very welcoming so I wouldn’t pass this experience for anything else,” she said.