On February 12th 2018, the Bishop Blanchet Choral program performed in the annual Archdiocese of Seattle Choral Festival at Benaroya Hall with all of the high schools within the dioceses.

Bishop Blanchet, famously known to do a pop song for Benaroya every year, shocked the crowd with a more choral piece, “We Can Mend the Sky”. This song was written by a syrian refugee, a 14 year old girl escaping the war.

“I really liked the song,” said junior Leah Mcintyre. “At first I was disappointed we were not singing a pop song, but it turned out beautiful in the end.”

The song claimed that, “if we come together, we can mend a crack in the sky.” Leading forward the rest of the choral performances including, “You Will Be Found” from Dear Evan Hansen, performed by Forest Ridge and “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”, by the Tokens, performed by John Paul II High School.

“Hands down the best song was The Lion Sings Tonight,” said sophomore Maliko Madden. “It stole the spotlight from the rest of the show.”

This year, Benaroya was ran differently than in past years. Usually, it is a all day event starting at 8 am to rehearse the music, but this year it was moved to start at 12 pm. Just enough time for all the big choirs (all the women combined, men combined, and a SATB choir [a choir made up of both men and women]) to rehearsal each of their three songs together.

The songs sung this year by the women’s choir were “Thy Little Ones”, “Alleluia”, and “Ad Amore.” The men’s choir sung “Dawns Awake”, “blank”, “blank”. The SATB choir sung “Where Dwells the Soul of My Love”, “Word Was God”, and “Kaplango”.

“Yeah, it was a good time,” said junior Lucas Wesley. “During the night when we were doing nothing was the most fun. I have some funny memories from those moments.”

The show performed without a hitch and the audience stood at the end for a standing ovation to all the choirs who performed. Without a doubt, the Choral Festival was a success, thanks to all the students and teachers who participated.