The school bell rings through the halls, it’s the end of the day. A clump of girls are speed walking toward the choir room. A list hangs silently on the wall. A list of names. Girls gather around it, snapping pictures. Either happy or disappointed, they walk away with something new on their schedule or a one time audition that didn’t go anywhere. 

“We have an audition process– you have to do some sight-reading and some singing. Look at the tone, as well as the musicianship skills. Because we don’t rehearse very much the members have to be able to move faster through more complicated music and less on rehearsal time,” said director Mr. Hagy.

Select Women’s Ensemble or SWE was formed to be an advanced group of women that are able to practice and perform more advanced music than the other choir classes. Girls from Treble, Advanced Women’s, and Concert Choirs can audition.

“[When picking music] I look at the people that we have, the parts that we can cover, and generally I pick things that are more complicated or difficult than they do in the normal choir setting and in the normal curriculum,” said Hagy.

The group rehearses twice a week, Wednesday mornings and Friday during advisory as decided by which works the best for the girls. After being picked the girls went to a meeting Mr. organized during advisory on Friday the sixth to meet each other, get music, and discuss scheduling. 

“I auditioned for SWE because I thought I needed a challenge, […] it was a good way to meet people,” said Ryan Brentner ‘23.

The group planned on carrying on their tradition of caroling through the halls on the last day of school before break. Coincidentally, that falls on the same day as the show choir’s school shows. During seventh period on Friday the twentieth, the girls split into groups and walked through the halls singing classic Christmas songs. 

“I tried it out because I didn’t really know anyone in the music department, and I thought that it would be a good way to meet girls that were my age and older than me. [I tried out] to make connections in this department,” Mya Kahle ‘20. 

Every year the group has a tradition of someone being SWE master. The previous SWE master decides it and they pass the candle down to the next person. 

“I’ve only been SWE master for about a week now. I’ve only actually been in action once, it’s really cool. Throughout my four years, I’ve always looked up to the SWE master as someone who I can ask questions and who I can build a relationship with. I’m really excited that, that’s me now,” Kahle said.