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Chick's trip to Spokane conference ends abruptly

By
Alexis Barker

Alexis Barker
NLJ News Editor
 
What began as an exciting experience for Newcastle High School sophomore Avery Chick soon turned south as concerns over the novel COVID-19 virus ended his trip early to Spokane, Washington, to attend the Northwest American Choral Directors Association Regional Honor Choir Conference. 
Chick had been working with choir director Jan Ellis since August to prepare the young singer for the conference. Chick had auditioned, had been selected and then  prepared for the five-day conference featuring over 100 singers from across the Northwest. 
The trip ended abruptly because of the coronavirus outbreak, but that was only the beginning of what turned into days of unfortunate events for Chick, his father, David, and Ellis. 
“The process of auditioning started the first week of school when Avery and others started the practice part in order to audition,” Ellis said. “Auditions required two scales, one low and one higher, a vocalization to show intonation and vocal flexibility, and singing their part with a recorded choir on a small piece.” 
Chick’s audition was selected from hundreds of auditions submitted by the “best of the best” from six states, Ellis said. 
“Avery received his music about two months before the conference, and he practiced his parts with me and recorded sites of the music,” Ellis said.
Chick added that they rehearsed for four months before making the trip. David Chick said that this is a real testament to what a dedicated instructor Ellis is because other singers in attendance were not nearly as prepared as Chick. 
After a day of travel, the conference began in Spokane on March 11, Ellis said. Arriving at the venue, the group registered before sending Chick to his first rehearsal with the group. Chick said that there were already schools that hadn’t come because of the virus and they could tell that things were a bit different in the city compared with back home in Wyoming. 
“You could tell things were out of whack when we first got there. People were late, and things weren’t as busy as you would expect,” Chick said. 
After a total of seven hours of rehearsal and two meals with the group of singers, Chick said, things really started to change when a meeting was held to inform the chaperones that the concert was going to be canceled. 
“It was pretty heartbreaking. You put in all this work and effort and only get to experience part of it,” Chick said. “The time I had there was so great, though, and I learned so much from the director. His teachings weren’t necessarily all about music but about how to handle diversity.” 
The group of roughly 100 young men put on an impromptu concert for the parents and chaperones. 
“The concert was outstanding and very emotional,” Ellis said. 
“It was awesome, I can’t believe what they were able to accomplish,” David added. “What we would have seen on Saturday night, that would have been amazing. I got very emotional.” 
The shocking and disappointing end to the conference was only the beginning of what became an interesting venture home for the group. 
“After the concert we spent three hours on the phone trying to change our flights,” David said. “We got to Denver, no problem, but from there we took off three separate times to be turned back, at least one of the times we were actually descending into Rapid City to rise up and fly back to Denver.” 
“It was like out of a bad movie. I was shocked it happened once, like what the heck when it happened again, and absolutely amazed when it happened the third time. The pilot said, ‘Well, folks, I don’t even know what to tell you,” David said. 
After deciding flying was not going to get them where they needed to go, the trio rented a car so they could drive home from Denver on Saturday. 
“At Cheyenne, we decided we had enough of the freezing rain and fog, so we stayed there,” Ellis said. 
In the end, they arrived home on Sunday, later than if they had kept their original flights.  
Despite the crazy travel and the cancellation, Chick said, the experience was positive and it was nice to be able to connect with other young singers from across the area. He said that it was also eye-opening to see the impact the virus already had in Spokane because the issue hadn’t yet hit home in Wyoming. 
“We found the people of Spokane to be extremely welcoming and accommodating and would recommend a trip there when things settle down. It is definitely a big city with small town hospitality! This adventure really spoke to me about humanity in the face of adversity,” Ellis said. 

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