My love for choir

When I joined my school’s choir in 9th grade, I thought it would just be a class to fulfill my required arts credit. I loved to sing by myself, but the idea of performing with a group was unfamiliar. I never expected that my experience in choir would change the way I hear the world.

From the very first choir class, I realized that the focus wasn’t just on singing but on connecting with each other. We started each class by giving compliments to the person next to us, which set the tone for the rest of the year. Soon, I found myself enjoying the process of building friendships and understood the importance of trust in making our voices blend together.

Choir gave me a new way to listen—not just to music, but to people’s unique tones and timbres. I realized the patterns that I admire in science also exist in music: harmonies rely on ratios and frequencies, yet they create something that feels deeply alive and profoundly emotional.

Choir wasn’t something I expected to enjoy and continue, but it revealed to me how the precision of science can come together with the unbridled creativity of art to create something extraordinary. With hauntingly expressive polyphonies and dissonance, the beauty of a choir transcends any one person’s voice. Whether it be Bossa Nova pieces in Jazz Choir or Gospel arrangements in Bel Canto, I find great joy in singing in choir and connecting with those around me.