Not many people can say that they spend four to five months to prepare for an event. Spending hours upon hours practicing and rehearsing just for that one moment of glory isn’t something everyone does. This isn’t an uncommon situation in a high school. And it isn’t uncommon among members of Manhattan High’s Viola Choir.

The Viola Choir is almost exactly what it sounds like: an ensemble of viola players, coming from both the Chamber Orchestra and Symphonic Orchestra who spend their Tuesday nights practicing for the solo and ensemble festival in April.

“It’s fun; we’re just one really big viola section,” senior Emma Brase said. “There are a couple of us from the chamber orchestra and others in the symphonic but we’re all really friendly and it’s cool.”

The group has spent the last few months diligently practicing and preparing for the Solo and Ensemble Festival taking place in April. Even with this far away performance, the group is still dedicated to their art.

“The competition is our main thing, but we have been looking for other pieces to perform,” Brase said. “It’s hard to find pieces for three to four violas, that’s not really a common thing out there so the selection of music is really limited.”

Another struggle that that group faces is the differing strengths of each member. Because the group is open to any viola player, members have to work through their varying skill level.

“You’ll have some pieces that are too difficult for the group to play, knowing the range of skills, then there are others that are too easy or that we’ve already played before so it’s kind of hard to come up with a piece to fit us this year.” Brase said.