Parents walk into First United Methodist Church Mansfield on Oct. 16 and try to find a seat. Moms push their children to an open pew closest to the front. On the way, one parent stops another.

“Where have you been?” One said, then proceeded to catch one another up on the latest injuries, illnesses and news in the family.

While the audience finds their seats, choir students sit on either side of the stage, and some of them move to greet their families.  

“Get as close as you can, honey,” a dad said to his little girl. The girl, about 3 or 4, runs ahead of him and her three brothers to find an open pew.

The boy’s choir makes their way onto the risers as director Josh Powell tells them where to stand. Then the rest of the choir begins to situate on the risers. Scott Carol, a director at the church, goes on stage and welcomes the crowd. Then the choir opens with the National Anthem.

While the choirs exits the stage Assistant Choir director Lauren Laugherty introduces herself.

“We are so glad that you could come out tonight and hear a part of what our students have been working on,” Laugherty said and passes the microphone to Powell who introduces the next group of people.

Silver Elite choir then starts singing “Once Upon a December” with senior Tyler Dixon featured as a soloist at the end of the song. Once Powell lowered his hands the audience applauded and the choir students smiled at the recognition.

Students who participated in All-State then join in on stage singing “I Will Lift My Eyes,” following the same pattern of singing, pause, applause. The rest of the concert continues in the same pattern with time in between each performance for the different choirs to move on and off stage. Concert Choir sings “J’entends Le Moulin (I Hear the Windmill).”

“That went really well,” one student mouths to another.

Men’s Ensemble sings “My Heart’s in the Highlands” and “Joshua” and when the song ends Powell recognizes the two soloist, juniors Isaiah Garcia and Gerrick Hague. Garcia raises his hand and gestures to the crowd in a playful way while Hague stands there and smiles. The boys around the two clap.

The concert continues with various choirs singing “The Water is Wide,” “Shenandoah” and “And Miriam Sang(Shiru L’adonai).” Right before the last song three students, Jonathan Ake, Sean Darby and Aaron Mu, come on stage with percussion instruments.

For the next section of the concert Varsity, Legacy Ladies and Concert Choir perform a trio together. Each choir overlaps and sings different songs. After the second group finishes, four soloists step to the front of the stage and sing while two choirs line up behind them.

All through these transitions, Powell uses a bowl, he hits the side of the white bowl with a mallet and circled the outside consistently producing a pitch the girls sing over.

Chamber Choir closed out the concert with “Domine Fili Unidenite from ‘Gloria,’” “Ubi Caritas,” and “Ye Followers of the Lamb.” Powell then takes the microphone.

“I cannot think of a better way to start the year, so thank you for being here with us,” Powell said. “You have amazing kids and I am so blessed to work with them everyday.”