On Sunday, December 10th, State High a cappella ensembles Chamber Singers and Treble Makers traveled to Harrisburg to perform at the Governor’s Mansion. Chamber Singers is a 16 member upperclassmen auditioned a cappella ensemble, and Treble Makers is its underclassmen counterpart. The two choirs performed sets of their repertoire on their own before combining for a finale of popular Christmas carols.

“It felt really ornate; it was cool. There were a lot of people there, so we were able to share our skills and the music with a lot of people. I really enjoyed the experience,” sophomore Declan Flanagan, a member of Treble Makers, said. The choirs performed along the front staircase which lead to the governor’s private residence. “It was hard for everyone to be able to see me when we were combined, and the physical location of everybody up above me. Other than that, everything was really great,” director Mr. Clayton said.

The decision to combine the choirs together at the end of the hourlong performance was appreciated by members of both Treble Makers and Chamber Singers. “It was really exciting. I love hearing Treble Makers because they’re going to be the people who move up into Chamber [Singers]. I’m always excited to sing with them and they added more to [the performance]. I was really interested in hearing how they were developing as singers,” junior Tori Robinson added.

Mr. Clayton originally got the idea to take the ensembles to the Governor’s Residence from a co-worker at Williamsport, where he first started teaching. After experiencing those performances, he chose to do that here, starting up the tradition this year. “I think it was a good opportunity to perform for people who would never normally hear us. I also think it’s really great to connect to our government a little bit and to get involved outside of our local community,” Mr. Clayton explained. After such a successful performance, the a cappella choirs at State High will have more out of town concerts to look forward to.