A choral piece arranged by composer Phil Silvey and developed through a creative arts project in a Saline classroom was among the favorites performed at Chelsea High School Choral Festival.
The work Nine Hundred Miles was part of a collaborative project between Silvey and former Saline choir teacher Norma Freeman, said longtime Milan Choir director Shayla Powell, whose concert choir performed the composition.
“Nine Hundred Miles is a well-crafted piece of choral music that is a perfect fit for the voices in our concert choir,” said Powell.
The song was also a favorite among the students.
“I just liked the whole vibe of it,” said Milan High School junior Emily Todd. “It was sad, but not sad.”
Classmate Lila Grimley agreed.
“I just liked the harmonies and how they fit together,” Grimley said.
Silvey himself taught choir for seven years in West Michigan before pursuing a doctorate. He later taught at the Baldwin Wallace Conservatory of Music in Ohio and now teaches at the Eastman School of Music in New York. His compositions are frequently performed at choir festivals across the country.
Chelsea High School hosted the MSVMA District 12 High School Choral Festival March 11-12, welcoming more than 60 choirs.
Chelsea Vocal Music Director Ken Davis said it was the first time Chelsea had hosted the event in many years. Organizing it required the equivalent of two extra weeks of work on top of his teaching duties, along with help from parents, staff and student volunteers.
Davis said the new auditorium, built three years ago, made hosting the festival possible.
“I was pretty gung-ho to be on the list to host,” Davis said, adding he wanted to share the district’s “blessing” of having the facility with neighboring schools.
Performance Highlights
Other notable performances included:
- Chelsea High School Chamber choir performed Flying Solo, also composed by Silvey
- Saline High School Chamber choir sung Dello Joio, an upbeat song, made up on nonsense words
- Milan High School Chamber choir interpretated the William Butler Yeats poem Lake Isle of Innisfree in a piece composed by David Brunner
- Dexter High Chamber choir performed Lewis Carroll’s poem The Jabberwocky composed by Sam Pottle.
In addition, Saline High School Colla Voce audition choir and Dexter’s Mill Creek Middle School Singers both performed Flight of the Grackles composed by Janet Gardner. The piece about five blackbirds relies on the choir members’ voices and music to give the mood of the birds’ flight.
Chelsea High School chamber choir (above) performed Dirait-on by Morten Lauridsen and Flying Solo by Phillip Silvey. Chelsea High School concert choir (not pictured) performed Cantate Domino by Sonja Poorman and The Seal Lullaby composed by Eric Whitacre and arranged by Emily Crocker. Both Chelsea high school choirs received the highest rating of Excellent and perfect sight reading scores. Beach Middle School 7/8 Combined choir (not pictured) also attended and performed Curiosity by Bernon and The Owl, The Wind, and The Moon by Burrows.
Dexter’s choir Descant (above, pictured at their recent concert choir), an all-treble ensemble, performed Weep O Mine Eyes by Russel Robinson and Swifter than Flame by Elaine Hagenburg. The Dexter Chamber Choir (not pictured) performed Earthsong by Frank Tichelli and The Jabberwocky by Sam Pottle. Both choirs received the highest rating of Excellent and the Chamber choir earned a perfect score in sight-reading. 
The Dexter Concert Choir (above, pictured at their recent concert choir) sang The Thunderstorm by Laura Farnell and The Road Home by Stephan Paulus. 8th grade choir and band students, Juliet Musleh and Audrey Steck played percussion with this ensemble. The choir received the highest rating of Excellent and earned a perfect score in sight-reading. 
Dexter’s Mill Creek Singers, 7th and 8th grade choir (above, pictured at their recent concert choir), sang “Flight of the Grackles” by Janet Gardner and “Shule Aroon” by Ruth Elaine Schram. The second selection also featured, Dexter High School Senior Parker Williams on the violin. They received the highest rating of Excellent. 
Milan High School Chamber choir (above) performed Spark of Light, with music by Andrew Steffen and poetry by Jónas Hallgrímsson, and Lake Isle of Innisfree, with music by David Brunner and poetry by William Butler Yeats. The second selection also featured Daniel Winnick on the violin. They received the highest rating of Excellent and a near-perfect 29/30 on their sight-reading assessment. 
Milan High School Concert Choir (above) performed Will There Really Be A Morning by Ruth Morris Gray and Nine Hundred Miles, arranged by Phillip Silvey. They received the highest rating of Excellent and a near-perfect 29/30 on their sight-reading assessment.
Saline High School Chamber choir (above) performed Come to Me, My Love by Norman Dello Joio and Blogodoop by Sydney Guillaume. Saline High School Colla Voce (not pictured) performed Love is a Rain of Diamonds by Gwyneth Walker and Juntos by Jim Papoulis. Saline High School Concert Choir (not pictured) sang I Wanna Be Ready by Rosephanye Powell and The Old Mill by Kenneth Riggs. All three Saline choirs received the top rating of Excellent. Chamber Choir and Colla Voce both received perfect sight-reading scores.
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