There are many singers in the world that sometimes go unnoticed, especially if they are high school kids because they are regarded as “too young”. People do not realize how talented high school students can be, especially with the arts. Mendham is very lucky to have tons of singers that have amazing voices. One of these students is senior Courtney Andersen, who has been part of the choir for a long time She just loves singing and enjoys being part of the choir with all the other talented people around her.

Courtney does not remember when she first started singing, but she knows that it started at a really young age. She started singing in a choir in elementary school, since then she has been part of the middle school choir as well as the high school choir. Her dad always encouraged her singing since she has a beautiful voice. Courtney also has another reason for her singing, “I’m also really loud so I needed to put that energy somewhere.” describes Courtney. Her favorite part of being in choirs is when they play songs, especially like the ‘beat songs’ because everyone from the choir starts jamming on the stage. Being part of choir and stage crew for musicals and plays at Mendham brings joy to her. Her favorite part is the story that a musical creates. She also mentions how important the lights at the shows are because they show off the costumes. By taking choir Courtney realized that she ended up getting to know a lot of different genres of music and liking it. When asked about her performing a solo Courtney said, “I’m not the biggest fan of solos because I get very nervous, but I did have one solo last year.” As a solo, she sang the song ‘Fix You’ by Coldplay, she really liked it and thinks that it is a beautiful song. The choir teacher, Ms. Danner, split the song into two parts and she shared it with another student. She had the second part of the song, she was terrified but she still liked it and got over her fear and performed it beautifully. Courtney never took any classes out of the school despite the recommendations of Ms. Danner and despite the fact that it’s good to train your voice. She still sings a lot at home, especially in the car and in the shower. Courtney is a lot more confident when singing in a group than singing alone. She also takes theatre class and works for the theater program. Courtney went through freshman choir, then intermediate choir and after that, Courtney had to audition to get in Mendham Voices, which is the highest level of the choir. Senior year she got in Mendham Voices and since then she has been singing for them and enjoying the class.                                                                                              

Courtney is planning on taking another path than singing in college but she will definitely continue choir class in college “because it’s a really great way to meet people.” It is also for her a good way to channel her energy. We do not know what will happen in the future, but maybe one day we will hear of Courtney Andersen’s song or album on TV or on the radio. Stay tuned to see if she features in any songs when she goes off to college!