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Congrats to Destiny Danks for winning Gerling’s 2023 Scholarship!
For the scholarship, students had to create an outstanding blog post summarizing the most positive or influential “Experience” they’ve had thus far in their education. Here is Destiny’s entry.
Senior year is the year of change for every high school student. Preparing for college,becoming independent, and leaving all we know behind us for an unknown tomorrow.However, the last semester of my junior year contained the most impactful moment to datein my educational career. May 13th of 2022, the last night of the Las Vegas Academy VocalDepartments spring show, “Make Them Hear You”. It was a bittersweet goodbye for theseniors that night, but it was also the last of the Bella Voz Women’s Choir as the world onceknew it. I was part of the legacy and filled with pride.
How the Tension Rose
I can speak for many others when I say that receiving the acceptance email to Bella Voz was exciting and relieving. Getting into the Advanced Women’s Ensemble was a great deal and entering as a juniormeant a clear shot to Academy Singers as a senior. “ACAD” was what everyone wanted as their finaldestination.
As the year progressed, I grew closer to my BV sisters. A year of online education and being separatedfrom my friends due to the pandemic put a halter on all of our relationships. Getting to sing with themfelt loving, safe, and alive. The last quarter of the year came fast, and although we were all sad toperform for the last time as BV, we were thrilled to be so close to receiving an ACAD jacket and joiningthe junior boys who had already made it up there.
But one day, our choral director, Mrs.Franke, gathered Bella Voz and Konzert Chorale (the IntermediateMixed Ensemble) into the same room for a meeting. Which was normal, but she looked more seriousthan usual. She explained that there would be a change in the vocal department. To make a long storyshort, she was removing Les Chanteuses (the Beginning/Intermediate Women’s Ensemble) andreplacing it with BV. But in effect, this was basically removing the Advanced Women’s Ensemble andrenaming Les Chanteuses as Bella Voz. Now, the top two choirs were Konzert Chorale and ACAD. ButAcademy Singers was being reduced to a smaller, more elite chamber choir.
“When I told them I watched their hearts drop.” is what Mrs.Franke told the junior boys in ACAD afterhaving the meeting with us. It was true that we had felt disappointed. We cherish the Advanced BellaVoz, and it was an honor to achieve this spot; we were sad to see it go. But this new change also meantthat our internal audition meant more. We were no longer just showing what we had learned and howwe had improved before getting admitted into ACAD. We were now fighting for the limited amount ofspots open for us, and our friends had become our competition.
The End of a Legacy
Weeks passed, and we were inching toward our spring show. We had put together an amazing setlist. I was given a lead solo in the show’s “Opening Up” number from Waitress. It was exhilarating knowingthat Mrs.Franke trusted me enough to be the opener and the first voice anyone heard. I was settingthe start of the show, and being given this responsibility made me feel more secure in my spot forACAD.
By the middle of the first night of the show, we had realized that this wasn’t just our last performancetogether as a choir with our senior friends. But it was also the last of a very long line of Bella Vozwomen who worked so hard for their spots and achieved unthinkable things. Realizing this empoweredus to give even more in our performance. We had a reputation to uphold and a duty to the girls whocame before us to finish it in an impactful way. We all agreed, there could be no mistakes.
The first night went incredibly well, and we were pumped for the Friday night showing as there wouldnaturally be more people in the audience. My parents and sisters would be attending tonight, and Icouldn’t wait for them to experience it. After our “Hamilton Women” number, we rushed to get intocostume for our last number, “Sanctuary” by Jason Robert Brown. This piece was supposed to beperformed very emotionally to go along with the lyrics:
“I am searching for sanctuary. Will you shelter me?”
As we set the stage, I could feel the pressure on our shoulders. This was it, the last time a Bella Voz ofour kind would show the world what we have done. The music started, and we began to sing andcarefully went through our choreography. This song held a very difficult run for the other sopranosand me. As we began the run, the power went out, and the music stopped. But the lights were still up,and the audience was still there. We all simultaneously took a slight beat of fear and continued to singand dance. We sang louder to the back of the house because the mics had cut out. I stood in the frontrow, and when we finally sang the chorus line again, I could feel the energy of my sisters behind me.We followed our choreography and huddled together. Now that we were closer, I could hear that wewere singing through tears. Our dynamics had shifted, and we were singing in a small pianissimo. I felta hand on my shoulder, as I always did at this point, but this time, it held onto me tightly. The numberended, and the crowd roared. The lights went out, and we fell into each other’s arms as we rushed offstage.
This performance helped us to remember that we are a family and that music is what should bring ustogether. For the last few weeks, it had been the sole thing that divided us into a competition.Ultimately, every Bella Voz girl that has ever been would be proud of what we created.