Next year Sartell students should be flooding the music department with new students looking for an enjoyable break from the normal class setting. 

If you are registering for classes, looking for a do-able A, or making the perfect senior slide, why not add choir into your schedule! Whether or not you were in choir in middle school or never sang in your life there is a choir for you.  

 Choir at Sartell is not just going to class and singing; there is much more that goes on. Some days in choir there are games, other days we work on class projects. During 1st or 4th quarter, we are given teams/houses for games including trivia, dodgeball, HML(High, middle, and low note), and sprinting. All of these activities are given point values based on position. 

While we do need time to have fun, we still need to sing. If you sign up for a full year, you would participate in four different concerts. All the concerts have different types of music. The music ranges from Africa to some Justin Bieber. 

In choir there are opportunities to give back to the community through song. In the past year, Tenor-Bass and Bel Canto both went to Oak Ridge Elementary to sing with the kindergartners. Each high school student got to sing with multiple kindergartners. The choirs can also be seen at various sporting events singing the National Anthem. 

Some might call choir a sport, which it’s not, but they do have a state meet for some of the top choirs in MN. This year, choirs came from Sartell, St. Michael, and Apple Valley. 

Just as there are four concerts, there are also four in school choirs ranging from all boys to mixed. The focus of all the choirs is to learn music, become a healthy singer, and become a leader. Their two choir that meet before school. 

Bel Canto

Bel Canto is an all treble or higher voice choir. It is a non-audition choir and is open for people from 9th to 12th grade. 

Tenor-Bass

Tenor-Bass is for changed/changing voices or low voices. Tenor-Bass is also a non-audition choir and is open to 9th through 12th graders 

Concert Choir

Concert Choir is a mixed-voice choir. It has boys and girls from 10th to 12th graders. (Prerequisite is being in choir 9th grade year)

Chamber Choir

Chamber choir is an audition choir that meets once a week in the morning before school. They are a mixed voice ensemble and ages range from 9th to 12th grade.

Donne Voce 

Donne Voce is an all-treble-voiced choir. It also is an audition choir ranging from 10th to 12th graders. 

Show Choir

Show choir is also an audition choir that meets in the morning. They work on various songs from multiple musicals.

Some classes have some of the best teachers around, choir is no different. There are two choir teachers: Mrs. Richards and Mr. Nordhues. Mrs. Richards is the conductor for Bel Canto, Concert Choir, Chamber Choir, and the 8th grade choir students. Mr.Nordhues conducts Donne Voce, Concert Choir and Show Choir.  In 2019, they as a combination, won the Award for Creative Programming.

An article published on December 13 2019 said the purpose of the award is, “to uphold high standards of excellence in repertoire selection, to acknowledge and reward creativity in performing choral performance, and to affirm the importance of quality secondary and undergraduate choral training throughout the State of Minnesota.”