Last weekend from Saturday, September 13 to Monday, September 15, the Main Street Singers attended YMCA Camp Campbell in Santa Cruz in order to spend time bonding and rehearsing intensively. Though the majority of their time was spent singing (they rehearsed for a total of 22 hours over the course of the two and a half days they spent at camp), there was also time to play volleyball, eat together and watch movies in the evening.

“I was… able to get well acquainted with other Main Street Singers I may not have known as well in the past,” senior Brittaney Chang said.

31 members of the Main Street Singers participated in the camp and were accompanied to Santa Cruz by their accompanist, Jin, and their director, Mark Shaull. The group left around 9:00 a.m. Saturday morning and singers were driven to camp by volunteer parents. Once in Santa Cruz, the singers began intensive rehearsals.

“It was really different than in class,” Brittaney said. The rehearsals were more intense and we sang for most of the day with little time for anything else. I felt that, since we weren’t technically restricted by the bell schedule, we were able to get a lot more done as well as… focus [more] on things that may have been [only] briefly addressed in class.”

For choir director Mark Shaull, these uninterrupted rehearsals are the whole purpose of attending Main Street camp.

“Our main goal at camp was to work hard, to understand what it means to be a Main Street Singer, and to become vocal artists,” choir director Mark Shaull said.

After a long weekend of singing, Main Street returned to campus at 4:00 pm on Monday afternoon.

“Overall, I feel it safe to say that even though all of us may be vocally tired, we all were able to achieve things that would not be possible without this retreat,” Brittaney said.

This annual “retreat” is always enjoyed by the whole of Main Street.

“I always thoroughly enjoy camp, it’s enlightening and just a phenomenal experience where we are exposed to so much music,” junior Maribelle Dickins said. “The atmosphere of camp could never be achieved on school campus.”

Moving forward, Shaull hopes to convince more people to join the singing department and eventually become Main Street Singers, where they will eventually be able to attend Camp Campbell.

“We’re looking to really inspire people… [and] encourage them to join us in either Varsity Men’s Glee or Bella Voce…,” Shaull said. “[Those] are two great opportunities because everyone, I believe everyone, can sing well and these are opportunities to [learn to sing].”