The countdown has officially begun for the final solo performances of Grosse Pointe South’s choir. Over the years, seniors in the choir have learned how to blend their voices together and come up with different techniques to improve their vocal ability. Singing a solo gives seniors the chance to showcase their voice and end their high school choir career on a success. As all the seniors prepare to sing on stage, they are ready to showcase their skills and put everything into their performance.
As the senior choir starts to prepare for their show, they choose a song of their liking and once approved, they begin to practice. Siobhan McGlone ‘25 has already begun the process of choosing her song and preparing herself for her solo.
“I chose the song ‘Close To You’ by Carpenters, since I’ve wanted to do the song since sophomore year,” McGlone said. “I had to pick my song to make sure it wasn’t too long, ask my friends if they would want to be in the solo, find sheet music for vocals and the instruments that I would want, and pick out costumes.”
Edmund Shall ‘25 is planning on singing “Book of Mormon” from You and Me and is planning the choreography that will go along with it, as well as perfecting his vocals.
“I practice my solo for about an hour a day by practicing choreography and learning the song,” Shall said. “I have more control vocally now and I’m more comfortable on stage to the point where I can actually have fun instead of stressing.”
Having nerves is something a lot of show choir kids can agree is a hard struggle. Having to perform so that nerves don’t impact their performance is nearly impossible. But being in show choir since middle school has aided Allie Thomas’s ‘25 ability to sing and she’s been able to learn and grow as a singer to help prepare her for her final solo and not let anything impact her performance negatively.
“As a performer, I’ve gotten much more confident in my musical capabilities, as well as my ability to quickly pick up and execute choreography,” Thomas said. “I’m now able to sing much more difficult music as well as sight read harder sheet music.”
As this will be all the South senior’s last performance, there are lots of things throughout the years the seniors have learned, along with memorable moments that have stuck with them. Thomas also shares some of her most favorite memories of performing and what she is going to miss the most.
“I will definitely miss the community of GPS choir because it’s like a family,” Thomas said. “Everyone is so funny, kind, dedicated, and talented and it’s going to be so hard walking away from them. In addition to that, we have such great leadership.”
Thomas also commemorated the Grosse Pointe South choir teacher, Carolyn Gross, who has prepared all her students throughout the years for concerts like this and dedicated her teaching to helping students succeed.
“Our director, Mrs. Gross, has been a strong role model in my life since I was in middle school, so it’s going to be strange not learning from her everyday,” Thomas said. “Over the last 4 years I’ve learned so much and grown so much because of the choir program so it’s bittersweet to be leaving.”
