By Abigail Kim

The Honors Choir and Chamber Singers have been collaborating with teaching artists from the LA Master Chorale’s Oratio Project. This opportunity is even more special, considering Granada Hills Charter was the only school in California that LA Master Chorale (LAMC) selected to work with this year. The two are working together to develop their own oratorio, a large-scale musical composition, typically focusing on a narrative of a religious theme. 

“The students will compose eight contrasting movements that will tell a story pulled from American History and how many concepts are still powerfully present and relevant today,” said Dr. Desiree Balfour, GHC’s chorale director. “The different movements cover history beginning in 1938 up to the present day. Umbrella topics include the Red Scare, McCarthyism, the Communist Party of the USA, Hollywood blacklisting, freedom of speech and musical speech, the Yippies, and ‘today’ which examines things like how social media can be used to dispel disinformation.” 

The focus on this important movement in American History tells a story of fear. 

There are three teaching artists that help the students to develop their oratorio: professional singer and member of LAMC, Alice Kirwin Murray, choral composer Saunder Choi, and professional author and screenplay writer Brett Pasell. These three artists visit the students during class every week. Once GHC’s Honors Choir and Chamber Singers finish their oratorio, they will perform it with multiple professional LAMC singers and professional instrumentalists. 

“I am so thankful and proud of the students in the Chamber Singers and Honors Choir,” Balfour said. “The students’ work, engagement, and participation indicate a full embracing of the process, the theme, the lessons in lyric writing, performing and musical composition, and the element of collaboration. The teaching artists are wonderful and work behind the scenes to lift up our students in so many incredible ways.” 

For GHC students, the process has been both exhilarating and informational. The lessons are also unique.

“We had to present the story we made just by using sounds that we brought in from our house,” senior and Chamber singer Ian Wood said. “Using a bottle with rocks, a tape player, a toothbrush, and bracelets, my group and I created a story about a flying dinosaur crashing into a wall after falling off of a ladder and sadly passing away.”

The students have also started getting more accustomed to writing lyrics, by creating their own poems about things they enjoy. These are the small stepping stones that will take them to their final goal of creating and performing their own oratorio. 

Balfour expressed how by enveloping themselves in the lyric and music-making process, the students will form personal connections with the music they are making, as well as gain a deeper understanding of the meaning behind the music they are producing. 

Collaborating with LAMC also offers students the opportunity to learn about themselves as musicians as well as understand the work of famous composers before them. 

“The students will learn about music composition and literature so that they can find their own voice, which will be sung by major professionals in the field, and will also teach them to better understand pieces of other composers and authors,” Balfour said. “This exploration will enhance the student’s understanding of musical works and help them to investigate and reveal the artistry behind high-quality repertoire.” 

This opportunity has not only afforded Choir students significant experience and knowledge about working in the field but has also taught them that anyone can make music if they are passionate about it.  

“To make real music you do not need to study music theory for years and know music notation along with all the fancy Italian words for simple things,” Wood said. “All you need is a passion for the thing you are making and want to finish it because then the music will flow to you naturally.”  

As their oratorio is still in the works, the final product will not be available to release and perform until February of next year. But when the time does come, the recording will be available on the LA Master Chorale website. There will also be an evening performance on February 21, 2024, at the Los Angeles Music Center.