My Treble Chorus Experience by Maximilian France

As we got out of my mom's car, I felt a rush of adrenaline pumping through my body. What was I even doing? I had to really take myself seriously, especially now.

"Come on!" My mom mouthed- more like shouted- through the window of the car, I was still in it, in my own world. My mother has no tolerance for slackers and laziness. She has always kept me on top-tier. I admire her for that. I quickly got out of the car and caught up to her at the revolving door. "Be careful," my mom nagged. I found those type of doors interesting when I was smaller, because usually what's behind those doors was just a whole 'nother world waiting beneath my feet. I hoped that Prudential Center had that type of feel to it. I went through the doors a split second after my mom did.

"Where do we go next?" I asked my mom after we found our way inside. There were loads of doors and staircases in the area we were standing in.

"Well, let's look at the signs," my mother replied. There were also tons of cardboard pointer signs that told us where to go. I saw a sign called "Allstate Treble Chorus-Up West Stairs" which obviously told me that all the kids from the Treble Chorus were to go up that specific staircase.

"Up the staircase," I told my mom. I was a very quick observer and I could easily outwit adults, especially my mom at that skill. Either she's letting me think I win at mental challenges, or she's actually losing. I'll never know. We slowly walked up the sturdy, silver staircase. Waiting to greet us was Mrs. Oliver, my music coach, Mrs. Saint George, the Westford Academy chorus director, Mrs. Benschneider, the Blanchard Middle School chorus director, Praj, the only other student from Crisafulli School in Treble Chorus, and her father, and some other kids from Blanchard Middle School involved in the Treble Chorus as well. All together, all of the kids and the teachers in that moment combined make up the "Westford Team". After all meeting each other we all took a selfie and everyone went in different directions, with Praj and Mrs. Oliver coming with me. We said goodbye to our parents and left for the stage. Here we go.

"So, both of you will receive a shirt. You will put it over your current shirt. Do you understand?" Mrs. Oliver said to us when we got to the theater. "Yep," we both said. I looked around the extravagant place of a concert hall. There were huge lights on the walls above my head that looked like cylinders, about six hundred chairs leading up to the stage, and much more. "

Wow," I whispered. Mrs. Oliver took the both of us to pick up our shirts. They were royal purple, and were easily recognizable to the public. Next, we went to find our seats for a practice run through. After Mrs. Oliver left us and went to the back with the other teachers, suddenly the chorus director and professor of music at University of Connecticut, Dr. Junda, came up to the stage. I have seen her before at my last rehearsal, to get an idea of what the concert was going to be like.

"Good morning, students!" Dr. Junda's voice rang through a microphone. "Alright, let's

get to our first song." And that's basically how the whole run through went. We went through all the songs. And that was it. Soon, all of the directors sent every kid and teacher to lunch in an even fancier room. After we left the concert hall, we dug in. They had free pizza and fruit. We also met other kids from different schools. I am astonished of how everyone started off in different places but then came together as a giant chorus. I am quite curious as to what will happen in the concert. Before I knew it, it was actually time for the concert. The directors were calling people one by one to get set up. I couldn't believe I was actually doing this. The outcome of the concert was surprising to me. I didn't know we would sound so great. I even saw some people crying. After the big finale song, my family and I said goodbye to everyone and went out for a celebratory dinner. Overall, my All-State Treble Chorus experience was satisfying. I love to sing, and so did the one hundred ninety nine people around me at the time. This was an experience I shared with hundreds of people.