BHS choir headed to D.C. for national tree lighting

By Jennifer Eisenbart

Editor

When Burlington High School Choir Director Penny Yanke spent time submitting a concert video recently, she happened to get a notice for something else.

That notice? Advertising open auditions for the national tree-lighting ceremony in Washington, D.C.

“I had just finished the concert video to apply for another competition that is happening in April,” Yanke said. “So, I submitted the video (for the Washington event).”

The quick turnaround last week has resulted in a first for BHS – and for the state of Wisconsin. The BHS A Cappella choir has been selected to perform at the tree-lighting ceremony along with 10 other choirs in the pre-show at the White House Dec. 4.

Each choir will have a separate portion of President’s Park – what is essentially the front lawn of the White House.

The groups will then get seats for the live national broadcast, which will include Patti LaBelle, Nico & Vinz, Fifth Harmony and The Tenors as performers.

Yanke let the choir know on Wednesday last week that she’d submitted them for selection, but senior Sammi Robers said the group didn’t find out until they were all called down to the BHS front office Thursday afternoon.

Robers was, in her own words, “speechless.”

“I don’t think anyone really expected it,” she said.

The honor, though, is offset by a slightly more pressing matter – that of raising approximately $12,000 for the trip.

“I think that was the first thing, after the initial shock, that was the first thing that crossed our minds…that we were going to get all this money in two weeks,” Robers said.

As it turns out, local donations will fund the trip. The group started a “GoFundMe” page at www.gofundme.com/bhsacappella, and had raised $4,100 on that site alone as of Tuesday night.

The Burlington Community Fund has also donated $2,500 for the trip, and the Burlington Rotary will match $2,000 worth of donations.

“The community has been great,” said Yanke Tuesday. “The response has been overwhelming. Everyone has been so kind and generous.”

While the group is still finalizing details of the trip, the choir will travel by coach bus to Washington on the morning of Wednesday, Dec. 3. The group will spend the entire day Thursday at the pre-show and tree-lighting ceremony, and then head back Friday.

The choir will then perform at The Coffee House at Chestnut and Pine Friday night, Dec. 5, before the Burlington Christmas Parade.

“It is going to be a quick trip,” Yanke said.

But it will also be a history-making one. Yanke said, when she asked the person in charge of selecting the choirs, that no one remembers a group from Wisconsin ever performing at the tree-lighting ceremony.

“We are all so excited about it,” Yanke said.

Who’s Making the Trip?

Members of the Burlington High School A Cappella Choir that will perform in Washington, D.C. next week are: Rachel Briggs, Landen Brown, Jacob Burton, Zachary Chernouski, Lydia Crabtree, Moses Crist, Logan Dailey, Kylie Dawley, Cain Gann, Sawyer Gilding, Peyton Hepner, Matt Koenen, Ally Konz, Alexandria Knight, Graeme Langley, Brandon Lindemann, Karley Nadolski, Jenny Panackal, Sammi Robers and Sarah Waltz