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Braily Perciful

Professor Dixon

Music Appreciation

08 December 2021

Ponca City Chorale Singing “Toil and Trouble”

This Ponca City high school’s advanced choir, directed by the lovely Chad Keilman, has

four vocal parts, and they can all be heard in their performance of Toil and Trouble. This choir is

made up of sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses. The groups’ vocals blend beautifully with the fun

notes played on the piano by their talented pianist, Jackie Sailor. This song starts with a very

quick tempo, following the lead of the piano. I believe this piece of music was in a minor key

because it has a very intriguing sound. This song has a very omniscient, eerie feeling to it.

Although the Ponca City Chorale is an amazing choir, I can still pick up on several mistakes in

their performance. Whether those mistakes were made by singers being flat or sharp, or just not

being together – some mess-ups are there. However, I was impressed with the way that everyone

ended at the same time. We usually had at least one person not watching the director, causing

them to miss the cut-off. I enjoyed hearing the harmonies on the chorus of this song. I love that

the boys echoed the girls in a round, until the point of syncing back up again. In this

performance, the Ponca City High School Chorale has a very full, well-blended sound. No one

person is sticking out from the group, which is something this choir struggled with inside of the

classroom. For the most part, choir members followed the direction of Mr. Keilman very well.

For example, you can hear the sound growing as his hand is motioning for more. It is also worth

noting that this is one of the few concerts, where members of the chorus were allowed to have
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sheet music in their hands. Overall, I enjoyed watching this performance. As ghostly as this song

was, it was still very fun to hear.

8:30-12:00 >> https://youtu.be/Etp-jrcCGhw.

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Braily Perciful

Professor Dixon

Music Appreciation

08 December 2021

Sing with Festive Cheer - Ashton Jones & Sarah Hunsucker

Ponca City High School Chorale members, Ashton Jones, and Sarah Hunsucker perform

a beautiful version of Sing with Festive Cheer. This song was made up of a delicate melody,

sung by Sarah Hunsucker, a soprano, with Ashton Lane Jones taking on the harmony as an alto.

These two did a fantastic job of staying together and staying in rhythm with the accompaniment.

I love that you can see how much the two enjoyed this performance as they sang. Both girls

smiled very often during this song, and it truly encompassed the meaning of the lyrics. These two

girls had the privilege of being accompanied by the always-amazing Jackie Saylor. As amazing

as this pair sounds together, the piano playing throughout their song, definitely adds to the

character and mood of the work. Although this song was less than two minutes long, many things

can be noted from their performance. Sarah and Ashton’s voices blended beautifully together. It

was very apparent that they have a very strong connection that translates into their music. The

majority of this song was filled with beautiful harmonies. You can also hear harmonies in the

midst of Ashton echoing Sarah. It was so fun to watch both girls, equally talented, effortlessly

produce such pleasing sounds. My favorite part of their performance was their last few notes, in

the word “rejoice”. The harmony is so clear and together. It is hard not to get caught up in the

smoothness of Ashton's voice. Both girls put on an amazing performance that was enjoyed by

many. It is great to see how Jones and Hunsucker brought out the best in each other’s voices as
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well as moods. I believe this performance was for their final concert with the Ponca City High

School Chorale. This pair went out with a bang!

4:50-6:40 https://youtu.be/CoXJnqSJ6Zg