With a cold sweat down their necks and butterflies in their stomachs, the spotlight shining brightly on them, choir students sang the tale of their lives in the vocal production “Songs and Stories.”

“Songs and Stories” is a vocal concert in which students in all choir levels sing their life stories. This sets a starting point to track their progress throughout the year. In a way, the “Songs and Stories” concert can be thought of as a pre-test, and the concert at the end of the year, “Broadway Rocks,” can be thought of as the final test. Through these two concerts, students can see how much they progress in skill over the year.

Since students of different levels in choir participate in the concert, it provides an opportunity for students of all levels to interact with and learn from each other.

“‘Song and Stories’ was a fun experience for me; it really brought all the choirs closer in my opinion,”  sophomore Anahita Jafary said.

In addition, unlike many other events on campus, participants in the production stressed the point that the process of preparing the performance was extremely relaxed.

“There is nothing really stressful except the fact that I can’t be in choir next year because I’m leaving,” sophomore Jisu Woo said.

Finally, this event provided a first experience performing on a school stage for students in their first year of music.

“It was like a new experience for me. I thought it was nice collaborating with new people and making music with our voices,” sophomore Katie Lee said.