Sixth Annual Treble Voice Turnout!
Wednesday, October 23rd, Damonte Ranch High School Auditorium
Bella Voce hosted our sixth annual choral event at Damonte Ranch High School on Wednesday, October 23rd, when we gathered together six treble voice (soprano and alto) choirs from six northern Nevada high schools for a choral festival. Our first gathering was in 2018 (with a year off in 2020) when we wanted to expand Bella Voce's mission "to foster the appreciation, preservation, and performance of women's choral music." We identified educational outreach as a priority area and the Treble Voice Turnout event was born. Our participant numbers have grown from 150 singers from five high schools in 2018 to approximately 250 singers from six high schools this year, coming from Damonte Ranch, McQueen, Reed, Spanish Springs, and Hug High Schools. Singers from North Valleys High school joined us for our final sing, although they did not have a performance piece. We gathered in the auditorium at Damonte Ranch High School to share our music with one another in a noncompetitive, very supportive environment. We ended by singing together, in a combined choir circling the auditorium, the piece "Hope Lingers On," music and lyrics by Lissa Schneckenburger, arranged by Andrea Ramsey. As you can see from the lyrics below, this is a hopeful, enthusiastic call for optimism – complete with body percussion! - in a world that seems to be struggling with hate and misunderstanding.
After time spent warming up and then engaging in some fun "get to know one another" activities, the program opened up with brief talks from three people. The first speaker was Britney May, a music and voice professor from UNR who talked about the choruses at UNR (a couple of which are open to anyone) and the singing opportunities that can be pursued after high school. The second speaker was Jade Kulwin, a recent graduate from Damonte Ranch High School who knew that she wanted to keep singing after she graduated. A singer must be at least 18 years old to sing with Bella Voce, so she joined us as soon as she could with the support of Jennie Tibben, the Bella Voce music director and her former music teacher at Damonte Ranch. She spoke about how much she is enjoying singing with Bella Voce and received a wonderful round of applause from the Damonte Ranch singers in the audience who knew her! The third speaker was Josette Dornoff, a longtime singer with Bella Voce (25+ years) and she talked about the lifelong enjoyment of singing, which also includes the friends and community developed in choral singing.
At the end of the afternoon, Bella Voce distributed our sixth annual commemorative mug. And a very good time was had by all.
Hope Lingers On
Words and music by Lissa Schneckenburger
Arranged by Andrea Ramsey
My mother, when love is gone, my mother when love is gone, in our darkest hour, hope lingers on,
My father, when peace is gone, my father, when peace is gone, in our darkest hour, hope lingers on.
I will not hate, and I will not fear,
In our darkest hour, hope lingers here.
My sister, when equality's gone, my sister, when equality's gone in our darkest hour hope lingers on.
My brother, with tolerance gone, my brother, with tolerance gone in our darkest hour hope lingers on.
I will not hate, and I will not fear,
In our darkest hour, hope lingers here
My love, when honor is gone, when honor is gone, in our darkest hour hope lingers on.
My country, when justice is gone, when justice is gone, in our darkest hour hope lingers on.
I will not hate, and I will not fear,
In our darkest hour, hope lingers here,
I will not hate, and I will not fear,
In our darkest hour, hope lingers here.
