On Friday, April 10, Camerata went on a field trip to Drury University in Springfield, Missouri, escorted by Wes Smith and Kristine Gage. Camerata is the advanced choir here at GCAA, where students had to audition to be members. The trip was an all day event with workshops, critics, and food! They drove down on a bus, which gave them the chance to know each other better. “The trip was fine, I really got to know my choir mates really well.” Randy Thompson, 11th grade, explains.

After hearing other choirs sing, Camerata sang themselves. “First we went and got food, then we went to Drury University, where we heard other choirs sing and then we sang, as like a work shop. Then a professor, gave us tips and stuff to help us as singers and work better together.” Chloe Viner, 11th grade, recapped. They were evaluated on their posture, sound, and how they expressed their emotions in the songs.

The choir also visited a chocolate factory: Askinosie (pronounced Ask-I-No-See) Chocolate Factory, which was founded in 2005. The factory was opened in Springfield and is one of the few places where the workers, instead of machines, make the chocolate directly from the beans. “They do great work there and it’s like a great mission statement. A lot of their profit goes to Tanzania and Romania and places like that to help them survive. They have this rice program that helps girls so that they don’t have to sell themselves to get money to provide food for their families at night,” Viner explains.

After leaving the chocolate factory they went to a restaurant called Pizza House, where they ate pizza and hung out together. With mixed feelings about coming home, they piled back onto the bus for the long ride back. “I really enjoyed the trip because I got to experience new things. Like, we got to know what we can do to get better in our choir as a whole. And we just had a blast with the whole choir together.” Caroline Ward, 11th grade, said.