OHS Concert Choir went on tour for the first time since COVID-19 started. They left the high school at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 28th, and arrived back at the high school at 10:45 pm on Monday, Jan. 30th. This is how they spent their days during the trip:

Ms. Paula Asmus said, “The choir sang so well throughout the weekend and they were consistent with every performance. Over the weekend we sang at the Four Seasons Center for the OHS Girls Hockey Game vs Hastings, The Basilica of Saint Mary, Prior Lake High School, Farmington High School, Bethel University, and Target Center.”

On Saturday, January 28, their first stop was the Owatonna Varsity Girls Hockey game at the Four Seasons Center. They sang the National Anthem before the game and cheered on their team as they faced Hastings for an out-of-conference match up.

Richardson said, “This day was really laid back and I enjoyed that, laser tag at Grand Slam was really fun too.” 

On Sunday, January 29, the Concert choir stopped at the Basilica of Saint Mary to sing in their beautiful church. They sang as a complete choir, the Chamber Choir sang one of their songs and a few soloists sang as well.

Senior Ezra Oien said “I thought it was super cool.  It was crazy that the church had a seven second reverb, which was my favorite thing!” 

Senior Mikah Elstad said, “My favorite thing we did on Saturday was definitely singing at the Basilica. I’ve never been in a church that big before.” 

The choir sang for about 30 minutes and then got a tour of the space and got to look at all the details of the church. After the tour, they headed to the Chanhassen Dinner Theater to watch the musical “Footloose”. 

On Monday January 30, The final day of the tour started off early at 8 a.m. when the choir loaded the bus and headed to Prior Lake High School to sing with their top choir. Elstad said, “I was really impressed with Prior Lake. they looked like they were having lots of fun and the vibe was really good throughout the whole exchange.” They sang their songs for each other and even sang one together. 

After the exchange, they went to eat lunch and made their second stop at Farmington High School. They left Farmington and arrived at Bethel University to work with their choir director; they also watched an opera that Bethel performed. 

After performing at Bethel, the choir departed to the highlight of their trip. The Timberwolves game where they would sing the national anthem. 

Alec Harris said, “It was very exciting yet intimidating. Having this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was pretty cool.” This would end their trip and they headed back to Owatonna. 

This tour was a great way for the choir to get out and spread their gift of music. Ms. Asmus said, “It was great just getting to have fun and see the students get to spend time with their friends.”