Fox Cities News

The Oshkosh Sings Choral Festival recently brought together students from the Oshkosh Area School District for a city-wide concert at the Oshkosh North High School Field House. The event, in its third year, offered choir students across various grade levels an opportunity to perform together.

Oshkosh Sings is an evolution of the former All-City Choral Festival and aims to celebrate community singing through combined choirs. Students from grades six through twelve, along with select elementary students, performed a diverse selection of songs from different cultures and languages.

Evelynn, a junior at Oshkosh North, expressed her appreciation for learning about different cultures through music: “Singing songs in different languages and learning about other cultures is almost like stepping into those cultures.”

The festival concluded with all participating students performing "Children Will Listen" from the Broadway musical Into the Woods. Josh, a senior at Oshkosh North, shared his thoughts on the song's message: “My favorite line from the song is ‘Children will not obey, but children will listen.’”

Bridget Duffy-Ulrich, director of choirs at Oshkosh North, highlighted the significance of this finale piece: “The words we say have an impact...students have used this song to have discussions about how they can be role models to younger singers.”

Campbell, another junior at Oshkosh North, emphasized community and leadership: “I think that the message of Oshkosh Sings is that we are all coming together as one big community and leading each other.”

Antonio reflected on building connections through music: “It’s a very special thing that we get to build relationships with others through Oshkosh Sings.”

Hannah noted the inclusive nature of music education: “Music is such a safe place for any kind of student...It’s so important that we have a class in school where we can sing, make friends, and share happiness with each other.”

The festival underscored both musical education's role in student development and its contribution to fostering community connections.