The North Harford Harmonics have been very busy bees this month. This is the first year that the choral group is an extra-curricular instead of an in-school class. Students who want to participate must practice music at home and in meetings after school, while also dedicating extra time on the weekends or weekdays to perform locally.
On Dec. 5 the Harmonics performed a private event at the Whiteford branch Harford County Public Library for a volunteer celebration.
Dec. 12 they performed publicly at the Jarrettsville branch of the public library at 6 o’clock. Choral director Katelyn Hemling comments, “we especially like that branch because they have a special spot for us to stand in front of a fireplace. They also have festive decorations like a Christmas tree right next to us and we sing carols.”
Also at the Jarrettsville branch they get to do more crowd work, “it is usually a low key kind of performance where we can let loose and have a lot of fun, and interact with our audience more. We let them introduce themselves and they get to sing with us, and it’s a good time for everyone.”
Then, Dec. 20 the musical group traveled to perform at the department of transportation for Harford County Public Schools to sing at an event for them. The same day, they will be going to the Central Office in Bel Air to perform for them before heading back to school, and having their winter concert for the ‘23-24 school year.
As for all of the extra performances, they don’t go unnoticed. Hemling states, “I feel like every year since I started in the ‘20-21 school year that we have steadily been adding a little bit more onto what we do.” She talks about the struggle in her first couple of years, “Obviously the first 2 years that I was here we struggled to get ourselves out there because of all of the COVID-19 restrictions. It’s kind of refreshing to have so much on our plate and be back in the community.”
