Choir and Festivals
Choir
All Tara students participate in our choral program, which is held two afternoons a week for much of the school year. Under the inspired guidance of our musical director, even those who believe that they can’t (or won’t) sing find themselves loving choir and joyously adding their voices to the harmony, even performing solos. The year in music begins with our Michaelmas Festival, where beloved African songs and seasonal music ring out into the crisp fall air. After that, the first semester of choir is devoted to preparing the music for Christmas Candlelight Festival, which includes a complete mass and sacred classics of the season. In the second semester, choir focuses on the all-school musical, performed in June. Culminating the year of music is graduation, at which choral selections from throughout the year are offered as part of the ceremony.
“I still remember vividly the first time I sang with the Tara choir. I was a shy, new boarding student a few days into my tenth grade year. The choir took its first breath together and burst into the opening call of Siyahamba. I was blown away. Never before had I encountered a group of people so willing to sing with all of their hearts and so aware of one another to be able to make such harmonies. As our voices blend together, we become greater than the sum of our parts and it becomes quite clear to me that, together, we can change the world. Now a senior, I still experience that amazement every time we sing together. And I have come to learn that the things that make our singing so powerful – awareness, dedication, enthusiasm, warmth of heart – permeate every aspect of Tara. Whether the subject is calculus or Shakespeare, folk songs or Mozart, education is fully embraced here.” – Twelfth grade student
Christmas Candlelight Festival
A major part of the Tara performing arts curriculum is the choral music prepared for the Candlelight Festival. Choir rehearsals begin in October and continue up until the week before the first Candlelight performance in late December. The Candlelight Festival has become a beloved Boulder event, reaching far beyond the immediate Tara community. The Tara choir prepares a major work, for example a Mozart Mass, along with other seasonal works and some solos. The Tara Handbell Choir plays, and the Christmas story is told through eurythmy. All this is presented in an atmosphere of candlelit reverence without the interruption of applause.
“I have a sense of eager anticipation as we progress through the Candlelight program from one beautiful piece to the next. Then comes the moment when we sing ‘Silent Night’ and everyone’s face is radiant, lit by the glowing candles. Following this comes the last piece, ‘Gaudete,’ and as we process out singing it, I feel as if we are carrying the spirit of Candlelight to the world. It makes me want to climb on the roof of the church and sing as loudly as I can.” – Alum, Class of 2009
