Choral Spectrum competed on Saturday, February 8th, at the Tantasqua Show Choir at Tantasqua Regional High School in Massachusetts.
South Windsor was one of five teams in their division, Large Mixed. They competed against Andover High School, Daniel Hand High School, Lowell High School, and Waltham High School.
It was Choral Spectrum’s first competition of the season, but was their opponents’ second, giving other teams the advantage of prior judges’ feedback.
Even with that disadvantage, South Windsor received a gold medal, the highest recognition available, and third place overall in the division.
Student Leader, Nkailu Nsakala’s solo in “Soul Sound System” blew the audience away with his high energy and adlibs ramping up the audience as well as the group right before their first big dance break.
The group also received a judges award called ‘Super Sliders’ to recognize their choreography strength.
“I think we did an amazing job showcasing our dancing capabilities. We had multiple compliments from judges on how we moved with swag and even won a judges award called ‘Super Sliders,’” Nsakala said.
Other soloists included senior Ethan Kim who performed “Bye, Bye, Bye” by InSync, senior Saanvi Rao who performed “My Days” from the Notebook musical, sophomore Hailey Olints and senior Tiernan Cabot both performed “Whatcha Want” by Lawrence, and junior Jasmine Kwarteng who performed a montage of different artists with songs “Ya Ya/Proud Mary” by Beyonce and Tina Turner.
-
The Girls of the South Windsor Choral Spectrum performing their routine on the competition stage. ( Meredith Olints)
'
-
The members of The award winning Choral Spectrum on stage performing their routine for the audience. ( Meredith Olints)
'
Choral Spectrum arrived at the competition early, giving them the advantage of viewing their competitors’ performances.
“My favorite performance to watch was from our sister group, Music Unlimited, from Waltham High School. They had so much energy and their performance was so fun to watch,” Nsakala commented.
Seeing other schools perform was a memorable experience for the group.
“Being able to watch other groups perform and meeting other performers from different high schools was a notable part of the competition,” senior Christine Vnuk said.
Unfortunately, South Windsor was not able to stay as a group for the awards at the end due to the snow prediction, but four members stayed behind to accept the awards on their behalf.
When the group returned back to SWHS, they watched the awards’ ceremony live-streamed in the auditorium together.
“It was a good group bonding moment. Everyone was holding hands and waiting in anticipation to hear how well the group did,” Vnuk said.
Choral Spectrum’s Student Leaders are feeling confident in the group’s abilities.
“We’re sitting on a lot of talent and potential and we just have to push ourselves to unlock it. We may not have started where we wanted to but I have no doubt we can achieve something great this season,” Nsakala told The Prowl.
