NHS has many choirs: vocal choirs, show choirs and a new addition: the French horn choir.

Comprised of eight French horn players, the French horn choir was first devised in October of 2015 by NHS’s twelve French horn players.

Ultimately, eight of the twelve musicians stuck with the group, creating the choir that won gold at ISSMA sectional on Jan. 30. The results of the sectionals competition were confused briefly by a miscalculation by one of the judges.

“We actually got  a silver at first, and then [the scores] went to tabulation and went through, and it actually was a gold,” freshman Trevor Zavac said. “That was good news; that was a happy time.”

Zavac, despite his lack of seniority as a freshman, rose to the position of organizer for the group.

Laughing, Zavac said that he wrote in an email, “I have elected myself official organizer of the new horn choir.”

Zavac’s leadership helped to bring the choir into a cohesive, working unit by organizing and leading all of their rehearsals.

“[Towards the beginning,] we were practicing pretty steady on, then we realized that we weren’t getting far…we had to all come together real quick towards the very end and make sure everything was all good before we went to the Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA) competition (sectionals),” Zavac said.

Being the first French horn choir NHS has ever seen, the musicians have had to build their unit from the ground up. Not even considering having to create the choir out of the limited pool of French horn players at NHS, needing to choose which piece of music they will play and developing a rehearsal schedule, success at ISSMA requires dedication from the choir members.

“It takes a lot of practice,” sophomore Tori Roddy said. “We have to come together and play [our piece] together to make sure that we sound good.”

Along their journey from sectionals to state, they found a coach in professional French horn player and instructor Renee Burian.

“I…heard them at the district contest and was really impressed with their sound,” Burian said. “And when they knew that they were going to state, I went to offer my abilities as a teacher and a coach to help them get even farther so that  they can feel really solid about their playing at the state contest.”

And their winning of gold at the state competition on Feb. 27 proves that the choir performed more than solidly.

“It was our best performance,” Zavac said. “I think our judge was impressed.”

Such success was not a surprise after considering the amount of work the choir put into practicing their piece, “Cornucopia” by Earl Hoffman.

Photo by S. Reilly

“They’re all working so hard individually,” Burian said. “And then as a team, I see them helping each other out with trying to find the right pitches and trying to blend the sounds…I’ve never worked with any [choirs] that have worked this hard this quickly and that have progressed this quickly…their progress has just been more than I’ve ever experienced.”

And now the choir finally has achieved their much sought-after goal: a gold award that not just represents their achievement as an outstanding group of musicians, but a gold award that recognizes their work ethic, skill, and talent as NHS’s very first French horn choir.