Show choir is showing what they can do despite a pandemic while getting ready to return to performing after having lost a year of competing last year. 

The show choir groups, which are Sound (co-ed), Lights (girls group) and SoundFX (boys group), have been working to prepare for their competition season, but first they have had their attentions set on the Dec. 3 Spotlight concert, which will be the show choir’s premiere of their full performances. 

Cory Thompson, choral director, shared her expectations for this season. 

“I would anticipate continued strong success like we’ve had the whole history of our time here at Mundelein,” she said. “Everyone feels behind, so I’m just excited to go to competition just like it used to be.”

Though show choir members have been eager to start performing and competing, COVID-19 protocols have generated some struggles during the preparation process. 

Addison Salski, senior and dance captain for Lights and Sound, said that masks have made them work harder than they normally have to. 

“Your sound just has to travel that much farther and cut through, so it’s been really difficult, especially after basically sitting in bed for a year,” she said. “It’s hard to get all the cardio aspects of show choir in.”

But Salski also said this year is filled with more of a “sense of gratitude and gratefulness” compared to past years.

“[During] my freshman and sophomore year, I was so focused on just how fun it was, and then last year when we couldn’t do it at all, it was really upsetting, so I think this year it’s just focusing on how important it is to be making music together and to just be working together as a group again,” she said.

Salski also noted why show choir is so important to them and the people around them. 

“I’m hoping to accomplish showing just how important the music program is at the school…. I think it’s really important for us students to keep showing Mundelein and the schools around us that this music is super important, not just to us, but to everybody around,” she said.

For some of the underclassmen, such as Sam Zwiefelhofer, freshman member of Sound and SoundFX, this year has already been exciting by having the chance to be a part of a new group in a great environment, he said. 

“Immediately as soon as I walked in the first time, [everyone] was welcoming… It’s cool to do all of this with good friends,” Zweiflelhofer said. “[The seniors] have been really easy and open to ask questions to.”

Members and the directors have also expressed pride in the fact that they still have been able to stick together and have that family-feel even after a year of abnormalities. 

“To me, [this year is] a lot sweeter,” Thompson said. “It probably sounds cliche, but I think a lot of people didn’t realize what they had until it got taken away. Just getting to do all the things that we normally would, I can’t stop smiling about it.”