After delays, Spuds make music in Florida

The weekend of January 12, 2018 was a big one for Moorhead High. The hockey team won a big game, speech officially kicked off the season, and the choir met Mickey Mouse. It was an interesting trip to Orlando, Florida for the Concert and Chorale choirs. While it was supposed to be a nice, relaxing weekend of performing beautiful songs and riding iconic rides, the trip got off to a rocky start.

“We were supposed to be at Disney by 1:15 p.m. on [Thursday],” said choir director Katherine Brekke. “But we didn’t leave Fargo until 4:30 or 5:00.” This really sent their traveling experience awry. Unfortunately, they were scheduled to leave for the major trip they had been planning for two years on the same day as the first big winter storm to hit Fargo-Moorhead in 2018. “They had to split us up to get us down there, so fifteen people ended up getting into the resort around two in the morning and the other forty people stayed on the Atlanta floor. But we knew that if we pushed through it, we would get there.”

“We performed in the airport,” said sophomore and Concert choir singer Riley Stallman. “[Brekke] got us together and told us we were doing our set.”

“Some of us went forty-three hours without sleeping,” said Meghan Johnson, a junior and member of the Chorale choir. “But we were in Disney World, so instead of sleeping, we went right to the park.”

The rough start may have shortened their trip, but it did not shorten their energy. Each student was given a park hopper pass so they could go around the park eating and playing to their heart’s content. They went to the ocean and saw some performances at Epcot as well. It wasn’t all play, though. A major part of their trip was a workshop. In the workshop, they worked with performers from the park, learning about what it’s like to work at Disney World. Johnson said it may have encouraged a few people to look into this as a career path.

“Especially after he mentioned the pay,” she joked. “We learned two songs and a dance, which was rough, but it was interesting to see what we could do with the little energy we had.”

This all lead up to two big performances at the end of the trip at the Disney gate.

“It was really nerve wracking because we had to basically be street performers and draw people in, but when we were actually singing, it was really fun and cool to see how people would react to songs,” says Stallman about the experience. “Some would dance, mouth the words, sing along, or just quietly watch.”

“To be honest, I was kind of dreading it,” says Johnson. “But once we got there and saw where we would perform, I started to get excited. There was water behind us and the stage was so pretty.”

The trip was not the first of its kind. Like many music groups at Moorhead High, the choir has a history of traveling and performing around the country to places like Washington D.C., Chicago, and San Antonio, sometimes even competing. For this trip, they got special permission by sending in videos last year to perform on the big stage. Brekke said she picked Disney World for this year’s big trip because of the experience with new careers and the big audience to perform for.

“And because people like to go to Disney World,” she added.