Composing A Musical Legacy, Part I: Inside Lakes High School's Famed Choir

Editor's note: This is the first part of a two-day series. Read Part Two .

As Lakes High School’s Concert Choir files onto the stage, it’s quickly evident that this group of teenagers takes music seriously.

They wear crisp velvet robes in a deep shade of navy and white stoles trimmed in orange. The girls wear flat black shoes; hair up. The boys wear black dress shoes; hair neatly combed.

And then they start to sing.

All it takes is one note to know that yes, indeed, Lakes’ choir is a force to be reckoned with – and it has been since its inception. The choir has the longest known streak in state history for earning “Superior” ratings – the highest possible – at every league event it has attended.

That would be going on 50 years.

“It’s very satisfying to know that we are on par, or better, with the best in the state and the best in the Northwest,” said Dr. Benjamin Keller, who has directed the choir since 1987. “There are some school districts and programs with outstanding choirs … but we’re as good as any of them.”

Lakes has attended the Festival of Gold national competition eight times, never finishing lower than second, and won it twice: 2005 in Chicago and 2007 in San Francisco.

Over Memorial Day Weekend, Lakes dominated the Vancouver, B.C., Heritage Music Festival, where 600 students from four states and two Canadian provinces competed. The Concert Choir earned 94.00 of 100 points to place first in the 2A Concert Choir division with a Gold Award (equivalent to a Superior rating in a league contest) and the Studio Chamber Choir, with 94.33 points, also earned a Gold Award and was selected as Outstanding Choral Group of the entire festival.

Lakes also went home with the Choral Sweepstakes Award and the Spirit of Vancouver Award, given to the high school that displayed the best sportsmanship and behavior off the performance stage.

“It was the first time we were really together,” said senior Adriana Aea, the choir’s vice president, who has been in the program all four years. “It’s usually the seniors who are really close, but this year, we all are.”

Added choir president Josh Coleman, a junior, “We all really wanted to be there.”

A storied history

Keller said that Lakes’ longevity benefits it holding the ratings record – its choir program started in 1965.

“Every teacher before me was a really strong musician and teacher,” he said.

Keller admitted that his choir faces preconceived notions being a smaller and less prestigious school than some of the region’s traditional elite choirs – the five high schools in the Evergreen School District in Vancouver; Puyallup; Salem, Ore.

“We get that all the time,” he said. “We just let our music speak for itself. We don’t have to talk. We do a lot of singing.”

And the music does just that.

At Thursday night’s senior concert, the Concert Choir performed the songs for which it won in Vancouver: “Here I am, Lord”; “Musicks Empire”; “This Marriage”; “Make Me An Instrument of Thy Peace”; and “Ain’t Got Time to Die”.

“When they sang, it was hard to find any kind of mistake,” Keller said. “If I had been judging it, they would have gotten close to a perfect score. They’re so incredibly sophisticated.”

Keller said he is hearing a lot of excited buzz because auditions for next year start on Monday. Lakes actually has four choirs, beginning with Concert Chorus, which is primarily freshmen, and does not require a tryout – or even vocal skills.

“As long as they don’t have auditory nerve damage, I can teach them to sing,” he said.

Then there is Royal Blues, an all-girls group of intermediate to advanced singers; Concert Choir; and the elite Studio Chamber Choir, which has 32 members, all of whom are members of Concert Choir.

A serious business

But it’s not all about musical ability.

“Vocal talent is about sixth on the list,” Keller said. “They have to be able to make the commitment and have the attitude. I can teach them how to sing, but I can’t teach that.”

To be in Concert Choir, students not only audition, but they are also interviewed by senior choir officers who ask questions about their commitment, prior experience on teams and why they want to be in the choir. They also are tested on their knowledge of notes and symbols. Any student needing remedial work attends study tables.

This is clearly serious business.

“It is,” Keller confirmed. “It’s not ‘Kumbaya’ around the campfire.”

Senior Kylie Hamlin, the choir’s secretary who won the prestigious Maestro Soloist Award in Vancouver, felt similarly.

“Most people don’t really understand all of the work we put in,” she said. “It’s so much work to sound good and learn the music.”

That, in turn, comes with some added pressure.

“Doc says that we’re not just putting on the robes for ourselves; we’re putting them on for everyone who has already worn them,” Coleman said. “It’s up to us to carry that legacy on.”

That shouldn’t be too hard, though.

Lakes Principal Karen Mauer-Smith said the choir is the perfect example of what you can accomplish “with hard work, dedication, passion and teamwork.”

“I think the key is that they succeed because they work at it and they love it and Doc models that with his own hard work and love for what he does,” she said. “It’s a winning combination all around.”

The best and brightest

Keller said the group has worked hard to overcome the stereotype that choir is “sissy.” The program includes football and basketball players, ASB officers, Merit Scholars.

“We’ve managed to build the program where we attract Lakes’ best and brightest.”

The Concert Choir, in particular, has a near-perfect balance, Keller said.

“When you have strong male voices, you don’t need as many,” he said.

Coleman said he has faced scrutiny for being so involved in choir as a male, but he shrugs it off. In fact, he’s planning to run for a second term as president.

“People are going to say what they’re going to say about me,” he said, “but at the end of the day, I’m here for the choir.”

Keller said he is especially pleased with “the four freshmen” – a group of boys in Concert Choir who have really turned in strong performances this year.

“It just proves you can’t discriminate by age,” he said.

In general, this group is the best of the best.

“There’s always a few (potential issues), but we’re not in a perfect world,” Keller said. “This is about as good as it gets at the high-school level. I do a lot of judging and adjucating, and every time I do that, I realize that it isn’t any better than it is in my own backyard.”

Coming Sunday: A look at Dr. Ben Keller, the man behind the music.