Showchoir: commonly portrayed on shows like Glee, showing large groups of teenagers who instantly can whip out an entire performance (complete with costuming and lighting) with no actual practice involved. Carlsbad High School is home to two show choirs (out of four total choirs): Sound Express and Encore. Both showchoirs are on the brink of their annual competition season, which spans from Jan. to April.

“Too many people assume that showchoir is like Glee,” junior Jayna Wrisley said. “What we do requires much more storytelling and creating our set takes much more preparation and hard work.”

Clearly, these groups do much more than just sing in front of a classroom. With multiple rehearsals per week as well as in-class rehearsals almost every day, CHS showchoir truly shows the dedication they have to win their competitions. Choir also has multiple techs who create props, help with costume changes and change the backgrounds as the set progresses.

“What many people don’t know about showchoir is the large amount of behind-the-scenes work that it requires to truly look good onstage,” senior Nicole Nungaray said. “For every minute we preform at a competition, we spent about a thousand minutes rehearsing.”

In fact, CHS showchoir has an impressive history due to their preparation and hard work throughout the year. For the past two years, Encore has won first place at SoCal, the biggest and most difficult competition of the year. In addition, Sound Express continues to build off on an amazing season, having also won first place at the Bonita Vista and Los Alamitos competitions.

“Winning is sick because we know that all our endless rehearsals have paid off,” senior Courtney Carterette said. “After all the time we’ve spent perfecting our set this year, I really think we really have what it takes to do well.”

With over seven total competitions this year, the first being Feb. 7, choir students have to get used to the stress and nerves brought on by the pressure to have a successful show.  However, the unique atmosphere of choir competitions makes this activity stand out.

“Choir competitions are different from other types of sporting events,” senior Brittney Jordan said. “The competitors all feed off the energy and reactions of the audience. Its so nice to look out into a crowd of people and see them invested in your show– it’s extremely motivating.”