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Health & Fitness

Stoughton Lives on Music

By Megan Maffeo

For a good amount of Stoughton High School students, the SHS music department is a big part of life. For junior and clarinetist, Kim Klebacher, band is something she’s been involved in since she was just nine years old.

In elementary school, the fourth and fifth graders were shown a variety of band instruments from flutes to trombones to drums. Klebacher, in grade four, was immediately hooked by all aspects of the clarinet. Like many other students, she decided she wanted to make some music. Through thick and thin, she’s stuck with it to this day.

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The SHS band is a close knit group of students who all share a mutual love and understanding for music. On joining the band, Klebacher said, “It was, overall, a good decision.”

The band, for example, has helped Klebacher make many new friends and she says that it has “given me a different outlook on music in general.”

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As loved as the band is by its members, the same can be said for the Stoughton High School choir, as well as those who take guitar and piano classes. Each of these beloved programs are taught by talented musician Mr. Coombs, a teacher here at SHS.

Coombs began his first teaching job here at Stoughton High in the fall of 2011. As for being a teacher, he plans on doing it for a long, long time.

Coombs is primarily a singer, saying, “[I’m] in my element when I’m rehearsing a choir.”

On top of these three courses, he also is head of the jazz choir that meets after school, something students must audition for in order to join. This year, there are approximately 15 students who tried out and made the cut, close to the same number as last year’s group.

When it comes to putting on concerts, he thinks about the programming and how the concert should go. People don’t want to sit through a show composed entirely of songs that sound the same. Rather, people want to see variations in the style and in the language. Coombs must also take into consideration where the choir is developmentally so that he can choose music that will suit their talents and style.

This year the concert schedule is nearly the same as last year’s. Their concerts include chorus, jazz choir, concert band, and jazz band.

Be sure to come out in the spring to check out all of the hard work and dedication that the students put into their performances.

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