The sun rose slowly in a soft orange sky as students filed onto two buses en route to Davenport, Iowa. Saturday, January 19 marked the last competition for City High’s varsity show choir, Fourth Ave. The group traveled two hours to compete in The Great River Show Choir Invitational.

The competition was held at the Adler Theatre in Davenport. This venue was a contrast from the typical show choir competition setting of various high schools around Iowa. Abbie Thomas ‘22, a member of Fourth Ave, was thrilled to be performing at the theater.

“I think it was a really good experience for all of us to be at the Adler Theatre,” Thomas said. “It was beautiful, and the sound was really nice.”

Charles Faden ‘22, another member of the group, also recognized the benefit of performing in a theater versus the usual gymnasium setting that the show choir is more accustomed to. 

“In a high school gym, the acoustics are awful,” Faden said. “[Last Saturday] we were performing in this beautiful theater, where it’s designed for things like this. It was a huge boost to perform there.”

Eleven show choirs competed in the event on Saturday, stemming from across Iowa as well as schools from Illinois and Oklahoma. City High made it to finals, but did not ultimately finish in the top three, instead earning fifth place. 

Despite Fourth Ave not placing in the final top three, Thomas felt that the performance was a success for the group.

“I think the competition went well,” Thomas said. “Personally, I felt very fulfilled because I thought it was my personal best performance. I don’t think the placement really mattered. I think the fact that we were even able to go to that competition was a really big deal, because Great River is one of the better competitions. All the good schools are there.”

Faden echoed this sentiment, agreeing that Fourth Ave’s last performance of the season was a good experience overall. 

“It was a really good time,” Faden said. “I think it was a very difficult competition because of who all was there, but I think we performed really well. I’m happy we ended on a high note.”