Nordonia High School's Synergy aims to bring music energy to music teacher's conference
A six-member a cappella ensemble from Nordonia High School will be one of the high school and university music groups to perform at this year's Ohio Music Education Association's conference next month.
Synergy will perform during the conference which takes place Feb. 3 through 5 at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland. John Pickering, the choral director at Nordonia High School, said this is the first time Synergy has been invited to perform at the annual music educator's conference. The ensemble "will be singing for all of the music teachers in the state of Ohio." Synergy was selected through a blind audition process.
"We are the only high school a cappella group to have been selected from throughout the state," Pickering said.
Pickering said that Synergy has performed at Playhouse Square, E.J. Thomas Hall in Akron, and has opened for national touring groups such as Vocalosity and Disney's D'Cappella. The six members include freshman Julia Greenberg, first soprano; sophomore Amaya Mayes, second soprano; sophomore Keirstin Trehan, first alto; senior Laila Burrell, second alto; freshman Caeden Bolling, bass; and junior Nick Spinetti, vocal percussionist.
"They are unique in the sense that they are one on a part," Pickering said. "Most groups have multiple people on a part. Synergy is Nordonia High School's premiere vocal ensemble. While their auditions are open to anyone at Nordonia High School, membership is limited to students that are enrolled in one of our 3 concert choirs. It is in these choirs that technique, sight-reading and other fundamentals of singing is refined."
Laila said she first heard about a cappella singing through Nordonia Middle School's a cappella group. She added that she prefers singing a cappella, which is traditionally singing without instrumental accompaniment.
Keirstin said that the six of them "typically have one rehearsal three hours a week, but with the [festival] coming up plus the conference, we've added a couple of extra rehearsals."
"We love performing," Keirstin said. "We performed at Hudson High School recently."
The festival is the annual a cappella event Nordonia High School hosts for area high school a cappella groups. This year's event is Feb. 18 and 19, with the performances on Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. Aca-Fest includes performances not just from area high schools but national groups. This year will feature headliners The Filharmonic, a Los Angeles a cappella group featured in NBC's The Sing Off and appeared on screen in Universal Pictures "Pitch Perfect."
Pickering said the two-day educational festival also brings in clinicians "from all over the country that are in the music industry." Schools from multiple states, including Wisconsin, North Carolina and Arkansas have traveled to attend the festival. Tickets will be available to purchase.
As well as Synergy, all of the Nordonia Hills schools' a cappella groups will perform that evening. This includes Genesis, the district's fifth and sixth grade group; Knight Rhythm at the middle school; and Momentum, a larger a cappella ensemble at the high school.
"I really love the songs we do," said Amaya. She added one of her favorites was an arrangement of "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac. "It's a ballad we perform off mic. We focus on the dynamics."
Caeden said participating in a group such as Synergy requires "a mix of both work ethic, and expectations for yourself and others around you."
"Synergy can help you grow and learn to do things with others and with music," Caeden said.
For details on the Nordonia Hills City Schools choir programs and the a cappella festival, visit https://www.nordoniachoirs.com online.
Reporter April Helms can be reached at ahelms@thebeaconjournal.com
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Synergy was the only a cappella group chosen to perform at conference
