Each year on Valentine’s Day, Lexington High School’s Singing Valentines serenade students to fundraise for the Lexington Choral Department. Leading up to Feb. 14, students can pay for a quartet of classmates in the performing arts to sing romantic songs to a person of their choice. The day of, the quartets dress in matching Valentine’s Day apparel and spend the day performing from class to class, operating similarly to Christmas carolers.
This year, Singing Valentines groups performed a variety of tunes: timeless classics such as “L-O-V-E”, popular new hits like “From the Start,” and various mashups. Despite this tradition’s immense popularity, few know what happens behind the scenes. In early January, students audition. This audition process is student-led and consists of an octet performance, a quartet performance, a solo performance, and a pickup line.
“I said, ‘Are you a carbon sample? ‘Cause I want to date you,’” Anneliese Goldsmith, a sophomore in Singing Valentines, said.
While these auditions can be nerve-wracking, they can ultimately be rewarding.
“I wanted to join last year, but I didn’t audition. I was really shy back then…[and] a little scared. But this year, I auditioned, and I’m really glad that I did,” Nadie Oo, a sophomore, said.
After auditions, experienced members assemble quartets based on voice. These groups then meet separately and choose what to sing.
“I liked [performing] ‘From the Start,’ because I did a solo. I also arranged it and it was one of the first songs that I really think I did well on arranging,” Oo said.
After the quartets have chosen four to five songs, they begin practicing. This process consists of everyone practicing on their own through Noteflight, a digital music software, then meeting with their groups. Unlike A Cappella groups, which are larger, quartets only have four singers, so each member must know their part well. However, this effort certainly pays off.
“One of my favorite memories is our last practice when all the music started coming together because we’re really working on blends and making everything sound good that day, and it was really satisfying to see,” Goldsmith said.
After weeks of practice, the Singing Valentines are ready to perform on Valentine’s Day, starting from the first block of the day.
“For the first couple [performances], [the performances are] kind of stressful because you’re scared that you’re gonna mess up on your part. But as the day goes on, you’ve done it so many times that you are really confident and it’s fun,” Goldsmith said.
Each group performs over fifty times in just one day. Although the quartets are busy, the results are well worth it; this year, the Singing Valentines earned an estimated revenue of $1500 for the chorus program. However, these funds aren’t the only reward.
“I really enjoyed meeting new people because I wasn’t really in a group of people that I knew very much but it was really fun meeting my new group members and learning our music together,” Oo said.
Outside of those singing, these Singing Valentines make Feb. 14 more enjoyable for everyone.
“I feel like it’s a happy day for most people and it’s just nice to see everyone smiling and all the teachers are pretty nice about it too… It’s just nice seeing everyone nice and happy,” Oo said.
