Choir takes 2nd in state competition
By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes The McNary High School choir may not have repeated as state champs last weekend – they took second – but it’s hard to imagine any choir could show more character as a runner-up. The Celtics finished a mere four points behind the top choir in the land, Sprague High School and four points ahead of the third place finisher, South Salem High School. “I feel lucky to be part of this choir and in the Salem-Keizer School District, because the schools in our district did so well,” said Kayla Ellis, a McNary senior. “The connection between each choir was different and we were all a lot better because we had that connection. It says something about our music programs.” After taking first at the district competition, McNary scrapped most of its winning line-up in favor of new material, including one composed by senior Jesus Gomez. Traditionally, the set has ended with a raucous spiritual and, when they didn’t last weekend, it threw the audience for a loop. “Everyone was like, they didn’t sing a spiritual, what do we do?” said Bret Goesch. What the audience did was give the choir a standing ovation. “I’ve never felt better about the songs that we picked,” said senior Rudy Trevino. “We had a song written by one of our members that proved we could be...
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