Voices Warm Up for Farmington Hills Youth Choir Season

Brian Christian approached Tuesday night's Farmington Hills Youth Choir auditions at the Vagnozzi Visitors Center in with one goal in mind:

"I'm looking for talent, for excellent singers," the choir director said as he waited for the first students to show up. "They come in one at a time, and I'll ask them to sing their favorite song. That gives me a better understanding of the type of music they're interested in."

In addition to working with singers from last year, Christian held open auditions. The choir, created in 2006 by the , is open to anyone in grades six-12, residents and nonresidents alike.

Last year's choir had 30 members, but Christian isn't sure how many of those will participate this year. Some participants in this summer's Glee camp have a "golden ticket," he said, because they essentially went through a weeklong audition.

student Finn Birach is one of those new choir members. While he didn't sing Tuesday, his older brother, Louis, did—and wowed Christian with his vocal range and tone. Louis has never performed in a choir, although he plays French horn, trumpet and melophone with the band program.

"My brother was doing this, and my mom yelled at me to do it," Louis said. All of the Birach siblings—Katie, who's at Michigan Tech, Louis, William, a freshman football and piccolo player at Harrision, and Finn—have some sort of musical talent.

Brooke Yaffa, 14, has been singing since fourth grade. She came back to Youth Choir this year because "it's a big, happy family. It's really comfortable, and I feel like I can sing without being judged."

A member of the marching and concert bands, she plays flute and enjoys acting. After Tuesday's audition, Christian said Brooke's range has expanded from last year.

She and the other girls in the group will rehearse as a women's ensemble; there will also be separate rehearsals for a men's ensemble and a mixed group. Christian said separating the genders allows them to concentrate more fully on the music.

"It also gives us the chance to do more music for our concerts," he said.

The group rehearses through the fall and holds its first performance of the season in December. Christian said the spring concert is being planned as a collaboration with other youth choirs.

Farmington-Farmington Hills Patch will follow the Youth Choir through the 2011-2012 season. Watch for more articles about this group of enthusiastic students.