Last Monday night, Haddonfield Sings, the HMHS spring vocal concert, returned for the first time since 2019! This event, which began at 7 pm, featured a number of vocal groups, including Concert Choir, Chamber Choir, Madrigals, Totally Treble, Voicemale, and Co-Ed.

Although we had a concert last year, it was not the same. Because of COVID, it had to be outdoors and only included pieces from Concert and Chamber Choir. So, this year was especially exciting because we were able to see what a real HMHS spring concert looked like! This was not just the freshmen’s first Haddonfield Sings; it was also the first one for the juniors and sophomores!

Choir director Mr. Tyler Mills did a wonderful job not only conducting all of our pieces, but also taking the time to explain the songs’ backgrounds (where they originated from and what they were about) in order to help the audience better understand what stories we were going to tell.

Concert Choir performed 4 pieces: “The Awakening” (with piano accompaniment from junior Tina Tian), “Shine Like Stars”, “Tshotsholoza” (unofficial national anthem for South Africa), and Hlonolofatsa (another South African song, this one being a friendly greeting song). The senior choir students were featured in Hlonolofatsa, as this was their last concert at HMHS, and the song was a “senior bring-back” that they performed their freshman year with the choir.

Chamber Choir performed 2 pieces: “Sir Duke” and “Deep River” (an African-American spiritual).

Madrigals, the Renaissance-themed vocal group that primarily performs during the holiday season, shared a song as well. We sang “Il est Bel et Bon,” a French piece from the early 1500s.

Co-Ed, the student run vocal ensemble, performed a beautiful rendition of “Here Comes the Sun.”

Totally Treble, the all-female a capella group, performed 2 songs, “Ma, He’s Making Eyes At Me”, and the Bellas Final from Pitch Perfect!

Voicemale, the all-male a capella group shared “De Animals A-Comin” and “Bright Lights, Bigger City” (which actually was the Treblemakers final song from Pitch Perfect (the male a capella group from the movie), which perfectly paired with the Bellas Final that the girls sang!)

All of the choirs put in so much effort throughout the year to make this show a success, and all of the hard work definitely paid off!

While the concert was great, there was one tiny problem…

Earlier that day, a tornado warning had been issued, and HMHS maintenance wanted to take precautionary measures, which unfortunately meant turning off the school’s air conditioning. Now, the tornado warning only extended until 6 pm, and the concert was at 7 pm. However, they didn’t turn the AC back on after 6. So, we had to perform the whole night under the bright auditorium lights, wearing long black choir robes, with no air conditioning! Even though we were sweating like crazy, we survived and still managed to have a great time.

We can’t wait to do this all again next year!