Cantus Finale

Rylee's last Cantus concert for the season was fun.

The Finale concert is always my favorite. They get to sing a variety of songs that we all know and love...many 80's songs this time!

As usual their performance was great.

After the concert there was a little reception and refreshments. Jason and I hung out, while Rylee ran around and talked to friends and took pictures. 

Melissa Brown

Rosalyn Engerberson & Riley Mortensen

Paige Simpson

Amy Whitcomb was the guest artist/singer.
She performed on the t.v. show "The Sing Off" in the group Delilah.
Mrs. McCauley (Cantus director) used to teach Amy in Middle School.

Maddi &; Kenzi Bingham

Emma Hullinger, Eliza Bradford & Maddi

Max Homer

Jane Stepherson & Landon Paskett

Rylee says, "I'm so sad it's over, and can't wait until next year!!!"

Finale

Last Friday, was Rylee's final Cantus concert of the season.

This concert was a tribute and overview of Cantus' excellent first year.

The evening began with each choir (chorale, concert, virtuoso) singing a song from their award-winning performances at the Heritage Festival.

Next, we heard an original song, "I've Got Potential" by Taylor Olson of BYU's Noteworthy. Rylee was in the backup quartet, as Taylor sang and played the piano.

Next, we heard a mix of contemporary songs from guest performers and Cantus choirs, in honor of hosting BYU's Noteworthy and Vocal Point throughout the year. Some of the song's they sang were, "Marchin' On" -OneRepublic, "Time of Your Life"- Green Day and "Keep Holding On" -Avril Lavigne.


In honor of their Disneyland trip, they sang several Disney songs from; Beauty and the Beast, Mullan, Hercules and The Lion King.

My favorite performance of the night, was the last number. All choirs sang, all performers performed. It was touching and POWERFUL. They performed, "He Lives in You", from the Broadway musical, The Lion King.

It was amazing!

Curious? Here is a link to the Cantus Facebook page if you're interested in seeing photos and video clips of their performances. The video clips don't do the performances justice, but at least you can get a taste. Here's the final number, "He Lives in You" .

I still get chills when I watch it.

I believe Rylee is looking forward to next year already. Rumor has it, that their tour will be in San Fransisco. The year after that, they will tour in Hawaii and eventually Carnegy Hall, in New York!

Anyone interested in joining?

Congratulations Rylee!

As I write, Rylee is traveling home from California. She has been with the Cantus Youth Choirs, in Anaheim, for the Heritage Music Festival (& playing in Disneyland!!!). When she called home she said, "No offense, but we kinda don't want to come home. It's warm here and we're sorta having the time of our lives!" Like it or not, she'll have to come home and face reality soon enough.

I wanted to congratulate her on a job well done and make her a little surprise for when she got home. When I saw these lollipops, they just said Disneyland to me. I decided to make her a lollipop bouquet.

I got the bucket from the Dollar Spot at Target (Easter 50% off), found some floral foam in my craft stash, printed some Disney images from the internet and made up some congratulatory words in Print Shop.

When I put it all together, this is what I got.
Hopefully this treat will make coming back to the reality of life, a little SWEETER. :)

Update:

The Cantus Youth Choirs did AWESOME!

The Virtuoso choir (the older, more skilled choir)came in second place (by only 1 point!) for the WHOLE competition.

All 3 choirs received SUPERIOR and GOLD ratings.

They also received 2 special judges awards.

And out of the 5 top choirs, that were invited to New York's Carnegy Hall.... Cantus was 3 of them!!!

Not bad for a first year, eh?