GHS student pulls off a National Honors Choir repeat

Grafton High School student Ty Brennan has landed a spot on the National Honor Choir for the second year in a row.

The junior is the first student in recent history to land a spot on the prestigious choir even once, let alone twice, and Brennan said he will try out for the spot once again his senior year.

“Ty is the first one to make the group at all. So the two, maybe three years in a row is really a landmark thing for us in the program,” Grafton Choir Director Doug Arendt said.

Last year Brennan was one of just three students from Wisconsin to land a spot on the National Honors, Mixed Choir ensemble. The full line-up of National Honors ensembles has not been released this year.

The feat is a landmark in an already long music career for Brennan.

The 16-year-old said he was already taking voice lessons before joining the school choir in second grade. He’s never left the choir since. Brennan acted in his first musical production, “The Sound of Music” when he was in fourth grade.

When he came to John Long Middle School in eighth grade, landing roles in school musicals became commonplace. He’s acted as Lord Farquaad in “Shrek,” Jean-Michel in “Cinderella,” and — his favorite role — Ryan in “High School Musical.”

Brennan said when he first came to the middle school he wasn’t sure how many opportunities there would be for performances, but is thankful the Grafton School District had regular performances students can try out for.

“I really appreciate how willing they are to give me roles and let me try new stuff,” he said.

Brennan said early in high school he thought state-level choir competitions were the highest students could compete at but later learned about national competitions from a family friend and wanted to see if he could make the cut.

“That was kind of the goal, to see how far we could push that,” he said.

After applying for the 2020 National Honors Choir, Brennan said he largely forgot about the competition during the review period until news came that he landed a spot.

“I didn’t know I could be a part of that,” Brennan said. “I was shocked that I got in.”

The 2020 National Honor Choir in-person event, full of workshops with professional composers and group performances was canceled because of the pandemic, but Brennan said the virtual equivalent still offered opportunities to connect with other students around the country and chat with composers like Eric Whitacre.

This year Brennan said he had more faith that he would secure a place on the choir, but that he was not any less excited.

He said he got the news from his mother just before a performance and had to take it in stride, but came to the realization that he had done it again after the show.

The National Association for Music Education canceled the in-person 2021 All-National Honors Ensembles in favor of a virtual gathering.

The virtual event will include rehearsals with award-winning conductors, workshops with renowned clinicians and a recorded performance by each ensemble that will premiere online during the 37th annual Music In Our Schools Month.

After high school, Brennan said he hopes to attend a music school in New York to pursue a career in music.

“The hope would be to go to a school specifically for music and to go somewhere where I can get into local performances for musical theatre,” he said.