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By Ricardo Gandara | Correspondent
People sing for a variety of reasons: fulfillment, enjoyment, love, for others and even for money. Carter Ofobike, 9, sings for God.
“I think it’s a good opportunity to free my voice to open my heart to God,” Ofobike said. He is a fourth grader at Holy Family Catholic School, and his family attends St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Austin.
Ofobike and 288 other boys and girls from nine Catholic school choirs — Holy Family in Austin, Santa Cruz in Buda, St. Austin in Austin, St Helen in Austin, St. Ignatius Martyr in Austin, St. Joseph in Bryan, St. Louis in Austin, St. Louis-Reicher in Waco and St. Mary in Taylor — recently participated in the Catholic School Choir Festival hosted by Holy Family Catholic School.
The highly anticipated festival is in its 18th year, and this year’s theme was “Let Everything that has Breath Sing Praise!” Friends and family with cell phones and cameras captured the performances, which were held at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Austin.
“It’s about celebrating our love for God through music and giving back with our talents,” said Tracy Lake, organizer of the festival and the longtime music teacher and liturgy coordinator at Holy Family Catholic School, which is a diocesan school that draws students from 18 different parishes.
Choir is an extracurricular activity at Catholic schools and the concert gives parents an opportunity to see their children doing something they love, she said. While the chatter and controlled laughter are sweet sounds to parents, it must be noted that while waiting to perform, children behaved well as they played games and practiced.
Lake said the festival allows the children to meet others and get exposed to concert performance.
“Kids get exposed to different directors, styles and different genres of music,” she said.
Ofobike, who’s been in choir two years but singing since he was 4, said the concert is beneficial while “being a lot of fun. I like how every note is sung perfectly and every kid is in sync.”
Alayna Oldag, 10, a fifth grader at Holy Family, has found her niche at the choir festival.
“I have the harmony part of the concert as opposed to the melody. We all look forward to the concert,” she said.
Her other interests include soccer and piano, but she loves singing.
“I just wanted to try something new. I became a cantor in the second year, so I’m the one who sings after the first reading in Mass,” she said.
Ana Lucia Nieto, 12, a sixth grader at Santa Cruz Catholic School in Buda, is a member of her church and school choirs.
“You find a lot of friendships in choir. You become a family so much to the point that it’s not awkward singing in front of them,” she said.
Claire Bierschenk, 9, a fourth grader at Holy Family, is new to concert performance but a veteran at singing. She has an appreciative audience at home where she sings with her 3-year old sister Bridgette and two brothers.
“Bridgette and I made up a song. I really like singing with her, but the concert is fun, too,” she said.