ACS Choirs to Come Together
On Wednesday, Oct. 16, the Alliance City School Choirs will join in on a special event called “SIGNing the Song: You Have Changed My Life” written and performed by William Martinez.
This performance is the story of Martinez’s life. He grew up with deaf parents, but his life was forever changed by a music teacher who encouraged him to sing. He was inspired to become a performer from the support his teacher gave him. His story speaks about the positive impact teachers have on the lives of their students. “SIGNing the Song” incorporates singing, drama and American Sign Language into one inspiring and meaningful performance.
Martinez is coming from Los Angeles, California to perform with the students. Martinez performs for a variety of events in the field of education, including professional development for teachers, state and national level conferences, and as a motivational speaker. Most of his performances are solo and generally do not include choirs. This is an exciting opportunity for ACS students and for the community to enjoy.
“When I heard about William’s show and message, I knew that it was something we needed to bring here to ACS,” said Carrie Chunat, Alliance High School choir director. “His powerful story aligns completely with our district goals, and we have all the resources to make this an amazing opportunity for the students.”
Martinez will begin his performance at 7:30 p.m.; however, there are a number of pre-show events taking place beginning at 6:15 p.m. The main lobby will hold solo performances from ACS choir members from 6:15-7:10 p.m. and food and drink can be enjoyed from the concession stand in this "open mic night" style informal performance. From 7:15-7:30 p.m., the choirs will perform in the Auditorium. The Alliance Intermediate School choir will perform at 7:15 p.m., the Alliance Middle School eighth grade choir will perform at 7:20 p.m. with the AHS choir performing at 7:25 p.m. followed by Martinez.
The Choralaires, the AHS select choir, will perform as backup for a couple songs during “SIGNing the Song.” All the choirs will come together at the end to perform with Martinez for his encore performance.
“The students’ reactions have been overwhelming,” Chunat exclaimed. “We have 200 choir students from AIS, AMS and AHS all participating, and I’m sure it’s going to be powerful hearing all those voices combined in song. The students have responded well to the sign language, and we are super excited for this collaboration and experience. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about how amazing it’s going to be.”
The performance will take place at AHS. Tickets are $5 and will be sold at the door. Everyone is encouraged to attend this event, which is said to be a truly inspirational performance. There will be an on-site interpreters for members of the deaf community who wish to take part in the event.