Concluding their 2024-2025 season, the Winston-Salem Choral Artists (WSCA) put on a performance of composer Dan Forrest’s piece “Creation.” The performance, held at Centenary United Methodist Church in Winston-Salem featured a chamber orchestra as well as four local choirs, including students from West. Due to the larger audience and unique nature of Forrest’s composition, the members of West’s concert choir recognize the accomplishment that it was to be a part of the performance.
This performance was a different experience for concert choir, as it involved a lengthy composition of songs, predominantly in another language.
“Dan Forrest is a modern day composer and he wrote this piece called “Creation.” It is an oratorio, where every piece in it is choral with a few soloists kind of sprinkled throughout some of the pieces,” chorus teacher Jacob Cook said. “There are 12 pieces in total from start to finish. It’s 141 pages of music, almost entirely in Latin. There was some English here and there, but predominantly Latin.”
West was invited due to connections with the WSCA, allowing the students to have an experience performing an extensive composition to a larger audience.
“It just happened to be kind of connected to a couple of members of the professional choir that was doing this performance. There was a student here whose father is in the choir and he asked their director, and that’s how we ended up involved. There were also two or three community youth choir groups that participated, but West and Reynolds were the only two high schools that could be there,” Cook said.
Compared to performances within a high school auditorium or in front of smaller crowds, Dan Forrest was a significant adjustment for the students who participated. Despite the changes, the performance allowed the students to get a glimpse of what chorus is like on a professional level.
“There was a full orchestra along with it, which was a really cool experience, it’s not every day that a high school choir gets an opportunity to perform a piece, especially one this large with a fully orchestrated group. The turnout for the audience was really quite good. There’s a good community turnout to come out in support and enjoy the performance,” Cook said.
The students who were involved in this performance left the event with new experiences and wisdom, as they were able to apply their skills and practice on a much larger stage.
“It taught me to be confident in myself and to relax in intense environments. This experience was very special because I get to express myself confidently and interact with a large audience which is something most people don’t get to experience,” sophomore concert choir member Lila Najmulski said.
Unique opportunities such as these provide students with lasting, valuable experiences and the chance to learn something they would not be able to in their typical environment, which is beneficial especially if they plan to continue singing in the future.
“If you really, really enjoy singing, and you’re going to continue it throughout the rest of your life, maybe through a small community choir or maybe you’ll get involved in professional performing or something like that, this gives you a real professional experience. You have to prepare your stuff beforehand, you show up for the dress rehearsals and you’re expected to already know the notes, and to know generally what the conductor has in mind before you get there. For my students, it was really beneficial to their overall growth, development and their technique,” Cook said.
As a way to wrap up a year of success, talent and growth within West’s concert choir, this accomplishment of performing the Dan Forrest piece was a testament to the hard work that both the student members and chorus directors put into each day.
