By Nathan Calhoon, News Editor
On Saturday, Dec. 10, El Camino’s Madrigal Choir hosted their 28th annual Madrigal Dinner at the Carmichael Presbyterian Church.
The Choir’s Madrigal Dinner is an annual, one night event where the Madrigal Choir hosts and serves a three course meal to their guests, while performing for them. While some things stay the same every year, like certain songs, other aspects are new and fresh. Every year, the choir writes and acts out a new story to entertain the audience throughout the night.
Beginning with the first course, the choir introduced their new story for the evening, which featured the Sopranos and Altos feuding with Tenors and Bass. This led into the main course where the rivalry peaked, causing the groups to separate, each singing without the other. At the end of the night, dessert was served, and the choir realized how much they needed their other half, reigniting their unity.
Choir Director David Vanderbout is the main component behind setting up the Madrigal Dinner every year.
“It’s a big undertaking, but also a big tradition here at El Camino that’s been going on for a long time,” Vanderbout said.
The choir performed a total of 14 songs throughout the dinner, following the story of the divided group. This story starred and was written by Carson Russell (‘23) and Luwam Naizghi (‘24).
“We wanted something that we’d be able to include the whole choir with,” Russell stated. “We figured that if we made it a feud between the tenor, basses, sopranos and altos, then we’d be able to very easily have some interaction between the [choir].”
By aiming to include the entire choir, Russell, Naizghi and Vanderbout were able to write one of the highest performing Madrigal Dinners of the 28 years, completely selling out, and actually going over the limit.
This couldn’t have been done without the Choir’s Parent Committee, which donates a lot of time and resources into planning these events.
Fundraisers like these help keep the EC Choir program afloat and raise money to be able to put on future events. The Choir is now preparing for their upcoming Spring concert and their themed cabaret in February, titled “Do You Want to Dance?”
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