The choir program at the high school currently has four groups for students to enjoy. This upcoming year, there is going to be a big change for the group currently known as Women’s Chorus.
The choir department recently decided to change Women’s Chorus to include all genders, so it is not limited to only women joining.
“For everyone to feel included and represented in the name of the choir is the first step to really feeling like a team and working together,” Choir Director Jack Phillipson said.
The main reasoning and goal of the Women’s Chorus rename is to allow better representation in the ensemble.
“It does feel like an inclusive environment, especially with Women’s Chorus being renamed for more people besides women. Now non-binary [people] and men with higher voice ranges like me can be a part of it,” freshman Tegan Mashburn said.
As of right now, the group does not have a designated name for next year, but Phillipson and the students want to make sure to come up with a general name that will represent everyone.
“We just know that having a gendered theme takes some students who absolutely have the voices and makes it not as comfortable or including for them ,” Phillipson said.
This change is already making a positive impact and is opening up more opportunities for students interested.
“Now, [students are] not going right from Concert Choir to Varsity [Voices], there’s a spot in between. Now more people can be a part of the choir,” Mashburn said.
The change to the group was prompted by students who brought up their ideas to Phillipson.
“I was really proud of the students for speaking up for a lot of other students who didn’t feel as open to have that conversation with me or bringing up the idea,” Phillipson said. “I think they should be really proud that they were able to represent their population.”
Phillipson is thrilled that he can include more students in the musical group, and more people will be able to join to get the choir experience.
“[The name change] aligns with every one of our values as artists to make sure that we present our music in a way that everyone can relate to people on the stage,” Phillipson said.
