Chorale, White Station’s only coed choir, participated in the Tennessee Music Educators Association Conference last spring, but this school year, they needed another goal to work towards. Choir directors Nikisha Williams and Joseph Powell decided recording an album would be a good project because it shows tangible evidence of Chorale’s progress this academic year.

“The music is really advanced for a high school group,” Powell said. “Some of the music, I know choir directors who wouldn’t touch it, so it’s very representative of the skill of the students in Chorale. A lot of high school groups don’t do something like that. It’s really reserved for people who are in college or older, but I’m really proud of the way that Chorale got the job done in a timely manner.”

Their rehearsals were rigorous and Chorale faced some difficulties. Along the way, they dealt with scheduling conflicts, and at one point, the students did not begin learning a piece of music for the CD until just two weeks before the recording.

“The major focus is on any kind of fine art choral music really from any period,” Powell said. “We tended to focus a little later in history on this particular CD, but we sing anything from early Renaissance to music composed within the past five years.”

Powell’s favorite songs on the album are “Water,” which was composed by J.D. Frizzell, choir director at Briarcrest, and “Hold On.” Williams’s favorites are “Gold,” from the Broadway musical “Once,” and “Lady in the Water.”

“It’s exciting that I got to share [the songs] with my students and that they get to share them with everybody who listens to the CD,” Powell said.

While Chorale records all of their concerts, this project was more clean-cut. They could perform several takes of a song to ensure they returned with the best version possible. The group recorded at Church of the Holy Communion at St. Mary’s Episcopal School, which provided an appropriate space with professional acoustics.

“It’s a better sound overall and more pleasing to the ear,” Williams said. “We didn’t have all of the white noise in the background to deter from the kids’ singing.”

The CD, title currently unannounced, will be available for purchase, and the proceeds will go toward the choir program, hopefully funding similar projects for the future.

Both choir directors are proud of Chorale’s musical talent and hope the album will successfully fund future projects.

“We knew that they would be able to pull it off,” Powell said. “So we didn’t hesitate.”