St. Joseph Hill Singers "Walk on Sunshine"

Every Spring I look forward to heading back to my alma mater (St. Joseph Hill Academy) to see the "Hill Singers" put on their Choral Concert. As a former singer and president of the school's "Glee Club," it is always a joy to return back and see familiar faces. Twenty-four girls that range from freshmen to seniors are broken up on the stage onto high risers in three sections: first sopranos, second sopranos, and altos. Separating the singers into these sections allows for harmonies that deeply resonate into the crowd. The concert also contains about six specialty dancers that do some extra movement than just the hand motions the others do as a group on the high risers. The singers start preparing for this show in January. From September through December they practice Christmas songs that they perform at St. Joseph Hill's "Coffee House." The Coffee House is a celebration of the upcoming holidays right before Christmas break. The setting in which they perform the Christmas songs is not as formal, they pretty much just sing in front of their fellow schoolmates and faculty members (tickets are not sold for this event.) 

Ms. Donna D'Ermilio-Miller has been the musical director here at the Academy for years. In addition to working effortlessly with the singers she directs a fall musical that takes place once a year every November. Most recently they have performed Once Upon a Mattress, Cinderella, Carousel, and Oklahoma. She also teachers a Music Appreciation class to sophomores and an Opera elective to juniors and seniors. Ms. D'Ermilio plays the piano for the girls about three days a week after school to practice and does most of the staging and choreography for the group.


The concert starts out with the blue curtain opening and the audience is exposed to a sea of girls with black skirts, white blouses, and blue cummerbunds (a traditional singer costume.) There are many group numbers with solos and trios dispersed throughout the show. There was no intermission and the concert ran about an hour and a half (well worth the price of $10 admission.)

Just to give you an idea of the type of music the girls sing, here is the list of songs they sang this year:
Halo/Walking on Sunshine (As seen on the show Glee)
The Beatles in Revue
Sister Act Medley (Including "I Will Follow Him"
The Pink Panther
Electricity (From the Broadway show Billy Elliot- with American Sign Language)
Not While I'm Around (From the Broadway show Sweeney Todd)
We Go Together (From the Broadway show Grease)
Aquarius (From the Broadway show Hair)
Seasons of Love (From the Broadway show Rent)
Don't Rain on My Parade (From Funny Girl)
and my personal favorite Disney Dazzle: Be Our Guest, Belle, Arabian Nights, Kiss the Girl, Part of Your World, She's in Love, A Whole New World, Beauty and the Beast, Under the Sea, My Strongest Suit, Chim-Chim-Cheree, Step in Time, Supercalifraglisticexpialidocious, and Colors of the Wind. 








It may seem like there are a lot of songs, maybe even a little bit too much. Trust me, the hour and a half flew by. The singers are able to do this by adding various solos. For example, Candace Hevia, Brittany Rubio, Kim Onah, Gabrielle Ardolino, Sabrina Bogen, and many more were sparatically placed throughout the show singing in the various groups of songs. They even broke down a few numbers into just freshmen and sophomores and just juniors and seniors.

For Disney Dazzle part of the show, the singers changed their outfits to black shirts with turquoise lettering that read St. Joseph Hill Singers and khaki pants. It allowed for a little change of pace as well as a more informal feel. One of my favorite performances of the night was that by senior Brittany Rubino. Ms. Rubino is currently a senior at St. Joseph Hill. Those of you who saw this years performance of Once Upon a Mattress might've caught Brittany in the phenomenal role of "Fred." As an alto, Brittany has a strong low voice that allows her belt out notes like one could ever fathom. In addition to her one of a kind voice, she uses her acting ability to her advantage. When she played the part of "Fred" she kept the audience laughing throughout the whole show. Another one of Brittany's performances I should note would be of that in Cinderella. She played one of the evil stepsisters in 2008. This one was a performance where Brittany's acting ability really shone through. Unfortunately, as part of this concert she did not have the opportunity to display her acting and dancing ability, but her solo number,  Don't Rain on My Parade was definitely a show stopper. Watch part of Brittany's solo in the clip below:

Being part of the Hill singers will be one of my favorite memories I will take away from my high school years. I made so many friends and had much fun that I am so thankful I joined this group. Even if you have never had any type of voice training, Ms. D'Ermilio and the St. Joseph Hill Singers welcome you with open arms. There is no other way I would've chose to spend these last couple of months than practicing for our successful concert.- Alyssa Carmusciano, Class of 2010 (Solo, She's In Love) 

One of my least favorite performances was that of The Pink Panther. It was an interesting choice because the singers were making noises throughout the whole piece and managed to harmonize it beautifully. However, there were many other numbers that "Wowed" me much more. Electricity from Billy Elliot was a very heartfelt number due do the fact that the girls learned the American Sign Language to the lyrics thanks to Mrs. Marlene Folvik.


Look at some clips of the show below and don't miss the concert again next fall!