Chamber Singers performed in their first public appearance this year at a festival held at the Biola University Conservatory of Music in La Mirada.

“The festival at Biola was an amazing experience,” said Theodore Sokoloff ’15, who sang at the festival. “We were surrounded by so many talented choirs, and I learned a ton from listening from them.”

Nine high school choirs performed sets of music. Each school brought around 20 to 40 singers. The Biola University Chorale also performed at the festival.

“It was interesting to see the others perform and be able to learn from them, and hopefully we can improve with the feedback we got from our adjudicator as well as our critiques of the other choirs,” Elizabeth Edel ’16 said.

Rene Clausen, an acclaimed choral composer of Concordia College in Minnesota, went to the festival to advise all of the choirs on how to improve.

Each team was able to be critiqued and given individualized pointers by Clausen.

“[He] is one of the most renowned choral conductors in the world,” Choral conductor Rodger Guerrero said.

Guerrero was impressed with the performance and is excited for the upcoming winter concert.

He is also enthusiastic to return to the festival again next year to improve the Chamber Singers even more.

“The Chamber Singers performed very well,” Guerrero said. They were also extremely impressed by the other choirs and definitely want to return.”