If you are an incoming Freshman, you will be placed in one of two choirs (send an email to Mr. M if you’re confused!): 

• Treble Choir (if you typically sing soprano or alto) 

• Bottom Line (if you typically sing tenor or bass)

After your Freshman year, you may audition for either:

• Chamber Singers (sopranos/altos)

• Madrigal Singers (all voice parts)

You may be able to explore options with your guidance counselor that allows you to “double” your choir class with another instrumental ensemble or science lab. 

If you can’t sing in choir this year, there are multiple a cappella groups that you may audition for in the beginning of the school year! More information will be released closer to the school year.

Yes; speak with your guidance counselor about options that work for your schedule. If you are taking Treble Choir, Bottom Line, or Chamber Singers, you may be able to “double” the class with another instrumental ensemble or science lab, meaning you will come to choir for half of the block, and then go to the other class, or vice versa.

Madrigal Singers does not allow doubling in your schedule; you must be enrolled in the full block of Madrigals in addition to your instrumental ensemble.

Yes! We learn music in a variety of ways in class, including but not limited to reading sheet music (and you will learn how to read musical notation if you decide to take choir!).

All choirs participate in four annual concerts, music-department wide field trips, choir social events, and workshops throughout the year. Additionally, all the choirs perform together as the Concert Choir in each concert. The main differences between the groups involve group size, difficulty of repertoire, and commitment outside of school.

Treble Choir and Bottom Line are both open to all Wilton High School students, regardless of previous singing experience. Both groups participate in all four annual concerts with little-to-no out-of-school commitment, and sing a variety of repertoire from classical to contemporary. This coming year, both groups will travel to the University of Connecticut for festival performances.

Chamber Singers is an auditioned treble group that performs intermediate-advanced, and often unique repertoire that requires preparation outside of class. A successful completion of Treble Choir will prepare students for admission into Chamber Singers. The group often enjoys collaborations with other instrumental ensembles and various additional performing opportunities throughout the school year. 

Madrigal Singers is an auditioned, advanced mixed ensemble that performs challenging repertoire and requires outstanding choral skill and preparation outside of class. A high level of individual accountability is required for this ensemble. The group performs in additional rehearsals and concerts throughout the year, not limited to, but including

• Wilton Singers Feast, a two-night collaboration with the local choral ensemble Wilton Singers in late December

• Year-round collaborations with world-class choral ensembles such as VOCES8 and Lyyra

• Performances at Wilton High School events such as Convocation, Pep Rally, and more

There are occasional before-school/after-school rehearsals before concerts or other important events, in addition to some assignments that need to be completed outside of class, totaling between 30 mins - 1 hour/week, if at all. The out-of-school commitment for Madrigal Singers is more demanding.

All WHS choral students are required to attend Graduation in late June where they will perform the National Anthem alongside another musical selection.

For our Fall, Winter, and Spring concerts, the attire is Formal Concert Black. For our Pops Concert in late Spring, students usually wear colorful, formal clothing. You can watch our 2023 Pops Concert here for some ideas

Repertoire varies between ensembles and changes from year to year. WHS Choirs students sing a wide variety of classical styles and composers in addition to contemporary artists, and everything in between. It is a principle of the WHS Choral program that the music we sing is both a reflection of the identity of our students, and also a window into other cultures. Recent contemporary artists we have performed have included Laufey, Coldplay, Billy Joel, Olivia Rodrigo, The Beatles, and more. For our Spring Pops concert, WHS Choral students suggest and choose all the repertoire we perform

There are four major concerts WHS Choirs performs in throughout the year:

October: Fall Choral Concert

The WHS Choirs Fall Choral Concert features all choral ensembles and a cappella groups, in addition to the 8th Grade Chorus from Middlebrook School. There is a rehearsal the evening prior to this concert.

December: WHS Music Winter Concert

The Winter Concert features WHS Music Ensembles, including collaborations between instrumental and vocal ensembles. The concert is a showcase of the orchestral, choral, and band departments that rapidly switches between genres and ensembles. This concert includes two after-school rehearsals prior to the concert

March: WHS Choirs Scholarship Concert

The Scholarship Concert features all choral ensembles and a cappella groups, and usually features collaborations with select instrumental ensembles and more advanced repertoire. Sometimes, this concert is combined with the band or orchestra. A portion of program advertisements are used for scholarships given to graduating WHS choral students at the end of the year.

Late May/Early June: Pops Concert

The Pops concert features WHS Music Ensembles in a showcase of contemporary pop music. All the repertoire in the concert is selected and voted on by WHS Music students.

The CMEA Western Region High School Festival is a two-day event in late January that provides students the opportunity to be challenged through the performance of high quality repertoire and to develop relationships with other high caliber young musicians from the Fairfield County area. Should a student audition for and be accepted into the festival, they will participate in a series of rehearsals and concluding performance of high-quality choral repertoire with a guest conductor, in a large choral ensemble. 

All information regarding registration, audition, and timeline, can be found here.

If students are accepted into and participate in the Western Region festival, they may audition for the All State festival that takes place in late March.

WHS Music Boosters is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization run by parents and dedicated to supporting quality music education in our school. You can find out more about them here. Their goal is to have 100% of WHS music families join the Music Boosters and money they raise through dues and contributions goes directly to supporting the music program at our school. If your family needs support paying for music related trips/ items please reach out to them through their page about the possibility of full or partial scholarships.

Each year the Music Boosters facilitates student selling of pies around Thanksgiving time. For each pie sold, students receive money towards their annual music trip. This is a great fundraising opportunity for our students! Find out more on the Music Boosters page.