Berkeley County Middle College High School issued the following announcement on April 8.
The term “the awakening” takes on a few different meanings for chorus students from Cane Bay High this school year.
For one, it is symbolic of finally having what William Bennett, Director of Choirs, referred to as a “normal year” for his students after pushing through the ongoing pandemic; his students were able to finally do all of their typical events and do some traveling and competing.
“The Awakening” is also a piece composed by Joseph Martin, and it is a favorite to sing among Bennett’s students. It also happens to be one of the three pieces the students recently performed on a trip to Disney World, where they placed in the top three in the Festival Disney competition that featured choral groups from all over the country.
The Concert Choir from Cane Bay High placed second in the AAAA mixed choir division with a score of 96/100 and placed third overall out of 11 choirs from Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, New Jersey, Tennessee and Texas. Their score allowed them to take home the Festival Bronze Award.
Berkeley County School District chorus programs regularly go to Disney World every year to perform in different events, but Cane Bay High was the only South Carolina school to participate in this particular event, which took place on March 26 in Sarasota.
Bennett said he and his students were thrilled with their results – especially considering that the choir that won best overall is one from Texas that has previously performed on a national stage.
“It was great just for the kids to be able to experience Disney World and see shows throughout the day, and see all the magic that happens there,” Bennett said.
Bennett also said the groups that won the competition were “class choirs,” meaning they meet together as an ensemble, similar to Cane Bay High’s Cobra Chorale or Vox Bellator. However, Cane Bay High competed with a cross section of the school’s entire chorale program, meaning students were pulled from all four choral classes and all four grade levels.
“We were really proud that we took a group of…various singers from across all of our choirs, but we were still able to be competitive,” he said.
This is the first time Cane Bay High has competed in Festival Disney. Bennett said he tried to take his students in 2008 but they experienced a setback from the recession. They tried again in 2020, but then the pandemic happened.
“We’ll plan to do it again someday,” Bennett said.
For the competition, the students sang a total of three pieces in front of a panel of judges. Aside from “The Awakening,” the students performed “Sicut cervus” by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and “Lux Aurumque” by Eric Whitacre.
Seniors Peyton Moore, Chloe Benko and Zariah Hollington were among the students on the Disney trip; they recalled how they originally were supposed to do the competition their sophomore year until the pandemic hit. Finally being able to compete, they said, was like a breath of fresh air.
The seniors all agreed that “The Awakening” was their favorite piece to perform – and tied it into the nostalgia they are feeling now that they are graduating high school.
“It’s about life without music and for a while that was our reality,” Benko said. “When quarantine hit, we had nothing, and so singing that song gets us really emotional.”
Hollington shared how she came to the school from Orangeburg County as a sophomore and how nervous she felt at the time, but said Bennett welcomed her – and Vox Bellator became like a sisterhood to her.
“This choir made me who I am – the people in it,” she said.
Cane Bay High seniors have recently picked up their caps and gowns for graduation. As the students reflected on their first “normal” year in a while, they shared how much they will miss Bennett and the chorus program.
Benko said competition groups are always focused on “the next competition,” but under Bennett’s guidance, Cane Bay’s program means a little bit more – “he’s built a family.”
“This is my safe space,” Benko said, adding, “I come here and I know I have a place that’s not just (about) music.”
Moore echoed similar thoughts of Bennett.
“He’s a really, really good director, and just a good person in general,” Moore said. “For a lot of us he’s like an extra parent figure. He’s built a very supportive program.”
Monica Kreber
kreberm@bcsdschools.net
Original source can be found here.
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