By Mary-Justine Lanyon
Editor
The music program at Rim of the World High School is alive and well under the direction of Kari Stebbing, the school’s music director.
Not only does Stebbing direct the marching band, concert band and jazz band, she also directs the choir and advanced choir.
She brought six members of the advanced choir – Owen Bennett, Levi Lamperts, Dominic Ontiveros, Leena Butler, Vala Valis Miller and Emily Salazar – to the Mountain Sunrise Rotary Club meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 15.
The choir will be participating in two festivals this year, Stebbing told the Rotarians.
“Going to festivals lets our students watch and listen to choirs from other schools,” she said. “It is an educational opportunity that is key to their musical performance.”
At the festivals, the judges write and record comments. They also work with the choir in person.
Currently there are 28 students in the full choir and typically there are 12 in advanced choir.
Of the six who came to Rotary, some are in the wind ensemble, others in the marching band, concert band and jazz band; one student will be in the school’s musical, Goosebumps the Musical, on April 25 and 26 and May 2 and 3.
Most are in AP classes. One student said he plans to study electrical engineering but will continue singing at college. “I don’t want my education to get in the way of my passion,” he said.
At the Rotary meeting, they sang a French song, “Il Est Bel et Bon” by Pierre Passereau, a cappella. Stebbing said the song is about two ladies gossiping about their husbands.
Before Stebbing and the students left, Rotarian Bob Mosby, chair of the club’s Grants Committee, told them the club was awarding them a grant of $1,950, which they will use for transportation to their second festival.
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