For the past five years, Hudson High’s Vocal Impact has toured the elementary schools during one of the final days before break. This past Friday, Vocal Impact visited the schools to perform their holiday show.
Vocal Impact starts their tour off with one performance at McDowell Early Learning. They later head to Ellsworth Hill Elementary and East Woods Intermediate with one or more performances for each grade level. As well as their rehearsed set, the choir sings well-known Christmas tunes so the students can sing along with them.
“Part of this tradition comes from doing a tour like this when I was in high school,” shared Jacob Moore, the Director of the Choirs and Vocal Impact for the past nine years at HHS. “It’s really good for [elementary students] to see older students because they look up to high school students, even if the don’t know them. We hope to put them in the holiday spirit and show them how awesome and wonderful their high school experience can be if they choose to make music a part of their lives. We try to get into their eyes and ears so they develop that affinity for music early.”
Although the effect Vocal Impact’s performance has on younger students may not always be evident, some students have particularly been impacted by this event. “There was a student last year at McDowell who was completely blind and about 50% deaf. He came to our performance and obviously couldn’t watch it… but after the place had cleared, he played the piano. I don’t know if he got the motivation from us, but we almost get more inspired by students like him than they do from us since we can see just how special music can be for them,” recalled Moore.
Students from the first year of the choir’s elementary schools’ tour are finally of age to join the choir program at the high school level. “We’re just now starting to see those students that were in 4th and 5th grade coming to the high school. I actually asked in choir the other day if they remembered [the tour] and a lot of students made the realization that they did. We’re seeing our retention and recruitment numbers go up since Covid has ended. We think that part of that is doing this tour and getting them to see us from the beginning,” said Moore.
While Vocal Impact tours the schools primarily to expose elementary students to music, the choir members also benefit from the performances. “It’s always been a very positive experience,” recounted Senior Madi Davidson, a third-year Vocal Impact member and Senior Dance Captain. “You can see the impact on the kids, and it also has a great impact on us, too, because it motivates us to do what we do and be a role model for the younger generations that are coming up into the music programs.”
Moore also reported, “I think [Vocal Impact members] enjoy it because they see the reaction on students’ faces and when they sing because they’re so close when they perform there. During our performances at the high school, it’s kind of dark and they can only see a few people in the front. So the reactions they see off of the kid’s faces, they thrive off if that energy.”
Senior Chase DeWitt, a second-year Vocal Impact member, shared, “When we were at Ellsworth Hill and had to do the five performances, while those were tough, I think they were my favorite part of the day. We were tired but when we’d see the next group of kids come in, we’d get excited to perform. We just wanted to keep going.”
Through the elementary school tours, all students and adults involved experience what the holiday season is all about: the joy of giving back to others. Vocal Impact is proud to produce holiday music to share with all willing to listen and make December just a little bit more musical.
To learn more about the future performances and mission of Vocal Impact and the other choirs offered at Hudson High School, head to https://www.hudsonhighchoirs.com/.
