The J. Taylor Finley Middle School honors choir gave a stirring and well-received performance at this week’s public meeting of the Huntington School Board.
The 31 member strong choir is dubbed Finley Voices. The music group meets before school once a week and is comprised of students in all the music ensembles at Finley, providing a singing opportunity for instrumentalists.
“This year, the group’s name was changed from Honors Choir to Finley Voices to be more inclusive as an organization that invites all Finley students to join in singing,” said veteran music teacher Susan Graber, who serves as the choir’s director. These students are passionate about music and singing, which is portrayed by their dedication to coming early to school to sing.”
The choir includes Jasmine Adcock, Maya Akerman, Emily Barba, Alexandra Boeckmann, Katie Cocoman, Joseph Conklin, Isabella Cruz Ponce, Piper Davis, Michael DiVincenzo, Lauren Dopico, Deveren Flynn, Gabby Genao, Emma Gutierrez, Heather Herman, Avery Joynt, Sena Knopf, Giovanna Lanfranco, Walter Lopez Martinez, Naomi Lyons, Tommy McMahon, Norah Moskowitz, Michael Munsch, Isabella Palacios, Jackson Poli, Katie Sorto Cabrera, Riley Sullivan, Edith Thaler, Sofia Van Arsdale, Ella Van Horn, Kayli Velasquez and Lily Wasoski.
“It has been exciting to have our students back on stage performing for audience over the last few weeks, first with the Woodhull/STEM drama club, then the high school bands and now tonight’s performance of Finley Voices,” said Eric Reynolds, district director of fine and performing arts. “The 30-plus strong ensemble rehearses each week before school, to come together and make music under the able direction of Mrs. Graber. This shows the dedication and engagement of the students in this music group and in their music classes.”
The club has two elected officers with Katie Cocoman serving as president and Sofia Van Arsdale as treasurer.
The group performed “Hamilton” highlights from the hit Broadway musical. Huntington School Board members, district administrators and faculty members and parents were delighted with the performance earlier this week.
Finley Voices will perform in public again next Wednesday (March 9) at the school’s honors ensemble conference at 7 p.m. in the Huntington High School auditorium.
Also performing that same night in concert will be the Finley jazz band, symphonic band and honors orchestra.
Send a message to Mr. Reynolds (ereynolds@hufsd.edu) for more information.