Normal choir sounds pretty, but the audience needed something more, so the answer was Jazz Choir. Fun, exciting, and entertaining music is what the audience wants, so that’s what they get – even if the participants have to be at the school at 7:15 a.m. every single Monday and Tuesday. The jazz choir is mostly made of middle schoolers and despite that, they still got the highest rank at the solo and ensemble competition. 

 There are seven middle schoolers in this year’s Jazz Choir. There’s four seventh graders: Elliot Iverson, Marissa Mandelkow, Anya Nygaard, and Kinzley Rezac; three eighth graders: Daniel Carpenter, Henry Nygaard, and Willow O’Gorman. There are also three high schoolers. “I was kind of nervous for the competition, but excited too,” Marissa Mandelkow said. 

Their choir director is none other than Mrs. Sue Franke-Clark. She is very proud of them and their achievements. She said that “people came up to me after our March concert and said they improved so much.” Pop and jazz music is a very important part of American culture so to bring that kind of music to Cannon Falls, Franke saw it as a great opportunity. 

 They all went to the competition on Friday, April 6 and sang two songs, California Dreaming by The Mamas & The Papas and I’m Still Standing by Taron Egerton. They were rewarded a superior rating with a total of thirty-seven points; the Chamber Choir also got superior with a total score of 38 points. The Jazz Choir (mostly middle schoolers) scored only one point behind the Chamber Choir (all high schoolers).  

The Jazz Choir is mostly made of middle schoolers, but still pulled out a win and blew the crowd (consisting of one judge) away. The jazz choir is a fun, exciting, and entertaining way to sing and to be listened to. They are performing at the next concert by singing two different songs.