Sixteen kids and a road trip: a recipe for chaos. 

But, the Road Trip concert performed on Sunday by the Coppell Children’s Chorus in the Main Hall at the Coppell Arts Center was anything but. 

For more than 11 weeks, 16 elementary school age students have been meticulously perfecting their voices for this spring concert.

A cascade of harmonization on “Home” by Greg Holden and Drew Pearson, for one, demonstrates the chorus’s dedication. Although the feat was difficult to direct, it paid off according to director of the Coppell Children’s Chorus, Erin Baker. 

“I love the harmonies on ‘Home,’” Baker said. “It’s a lot when they’re young to teach parts.” 

So, Coppell Children’s Chorus assistant director Allison Hartzell and Baker each took different parts to direct and combined them later. 

Coppell Arts Center usher Jo Ann Hill also enjoyed the song. 

“[‘Home’] brings back memories of home,” Hill said. “It touched me. It’s just the way they say it.”

But perhaps the most interesting part was the selection of songs. 

“All our shows, whether adults or children, have a theme,” Coppell Community Chorale President Bethany Henze said. “We can put any song in the theme road trip as long as it fits. So, you can get lots of different kinds of music. For the kids, we like to tell a little story: when you start the road trip, while you are on the road, and things that happen.”

With a total of seven songs playing in the concert’s repertoire, each related to a road trip in some way. 

The show, for one, opened with Disney’s “How Far I’ll Go” with soloists Mariah Briceno, Meela Patel, Benjamin Bastow and Emma Crawford. The students even accentuated the song with hand motions that Baker had directed. 

To further the road trip experience, Coppell Community Chorale vice president of outreach Jon Wilson emceed as a radio host. 

“[The concert] was so much fun,” Baker said. “I love watching the kids. They just light up on stage and have such a good time performing, showing everything they did.”

And although the singers did not literally go on a trip, their voices took the audience around the world, which Henze believed is the purpose of music. 

“If absolutely nothing else, it brings everyone together,” Henze said. “It’s a common language even when we don’t speak the same language. Music is something that knows no boundaries.”

And as the chorus took a final bow, the audience’s mind came back home from their ride of memories. 

Follow Anushree De (@anushree_night) and @CHSCampusNews on Twitter.