The theatre was packed with audience members on Oct. 3 for the choir program’s premiere fall concert, which featured performances from all four choral ensembles: Concert Choir, Treble/Bass Choir, East Harmony, the school’s acapella group, and Equinox Show Choir. The concert was spearheaded by directors Nathan Wallace and Pat Ribar alongside accompanist Paul Rath.
“It’s pretty amazing to see what can happen in a short three months,” Griffin parent Holly Fink said. “Everybody looks very good, and there’s a lot of excitement about the program in general.”
The program started unconventionally with the concert choir surprising the audience as they started singing their opening song “Tunakuja Na Wimbo” from the balcony rather than on stage.
“I thought the first song in the balcony was a great way to start the concert,” junior Joel Berck said. “Seeing the audience’s reaction to the surprise start was super cool.”
After making their way to the stage, the group continued with their setlist which featured five songs from the Nebraska Music Educators Association All-State selections: “Oh What A Beautiful City,” “L’Dor Vador”, “I Will Be Earth,” “Signs of the Judgment” and “Die Mainacht” under the direction of Wallace and Ribar.
“Despite the high level of difficulty, the choir rose to the complexity of the music and performed exceptionally well,” Wallace said.
Photo Gallery by Madeline Petrick
Immediately following their performance, the concert choir filed off stage as the freshman and sophomore treble/bass choir arrived for their moment in the spotlight. The younger ensemble took the stage after only having half the rehearsal time that other choir groups had due to the fact that the class is only held every other day with Wallace.
“For many, this was their first high school performance,” Wallace said. “They handled it with such maturity.”
Despite the group’s shorter rehearsal time for the concert, they performed three songs: “Spark of Light,” “Riversong” and “Fly.”
“As a group, we improved so much already this year,” freshman Emmalynn Naylor said.
Nearing the end of the evening, the acapella group, East Harmony, performed an around-the-world themed setlist: “Eleanor Rigby,” “I’m Yours/Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” “We All Need Saving” and “I’m a Train” conducted by Ribar.
“I think we sounded amazing and it was an upgrade from last year in the number of people and the confidence we had as a group,” Berck said.
Compared to last year, East Harmony has grown from an 11-member to a 24-member ensemble.
“East Harmony was a real highlight for me. The students were well prepared and fun to work with,” Ribar said. “They put on what I feel was their finest performance. Sometimes a rehearsal works out better than the actual performance but not this time. The set list was challenging to get ready in the first quarter. They really stepped up.”
Closing out the concert, Equinox, directed by Wallace, performed a sneak peek of their 2025 Edison competition-themed show. Opening with “The Spark of Creation/Our Time,” their second number “Thomas Edison/Weird Science,” and their closer “That’s How You Change the World.” Each of the songs were original arrangements by Justin Eisenbeis, Norris High School Vocal Music Director.
“The Equinox performance was probably my favorite part of the concert because it really just gets us excited for the rest of the year and shows how much potential we have,” Berck said. “We performed our songs really well and put us in a really good spot moving into the future.”
While the concert didn’t include their entire competition show, Equinox performed with full lights and the band, which gave audience members a taste of their future performances.
“The lighting added an extra layer of dimension to their performance, enhancing both the storytelling and the overall visual impact,” Wallace said.
With one performance in the books, the ensembles have already begun preparing for the Dec. 19 Winter Concert.
“I believe the ensembles left the audience with a sense of joy and inspiration,” Wallace said. “Ultimately, I think the students succeeded in creating an unforgettable musical experience.”
