The annual Loft Concert, featuring performances by the different choir groups at Manhattan High, displayed the vocal talent of the performers as well as giving them and the audience a change of location.

The concert, held March 14, was hosted in the First United Methodist Church, a major change in scenery for the choir students and those in attendance. The church’s interior architecture gave the choir an acoustic advantage to their sound as the balcony and shape of the ceiling allowed for their voices to carry throughout the church.

“The church has good acoustics, which is good for sound,” Gabriel Martinez, sophomore, said. “The song would bounce off the walls and not make it sound any different than hearing it right next to you, maybe even better.”

Unlike Rezac Auditorium, or the “bomb shelter that doubles as a stage,” according to choir director Chad Pape, the church gave pleasant results to the overall sound.

“The amount of tonality and music that you can hear in a different way from the building itself actually echoes throughout everything,” Parker Wilson, junior, said. “It makes it just sound more cool.”

The concert proved successful, though not every student receives an opportunity to perform in the balcony.

“Chamber was the only one that really got to use the main acoustics,” Wilson said. “I know it would make the choir concert longer, but it would definitely be cooler to have all of the choirs be able to have the same type of experience and acoustics that Chamber got to experience.”

The loft format of the concert, meaning that the choirs sang in a balcony, proved effective in helping them give an outstanding performance.

“I was very happy about the concert,” Pape said. “Acoustically the church is really nice and the singers kind of pulled out of their third quarter slump and they ended up singing very well.”

Beginning with the Concert Choir and ending with the Chamber Choir, the groups were able to display their skill with a series of a cappella renditions of “sacred and secular music” with a few pieces accompanied by melodies played on the piano.

The choir also had a few setbacks with the overall setup.

“The only thing that we can improve maybe is in our planning next year,” Pape said. “Kind of understanding better how the physical set up is going to be and that kind of stuff.”

Despite these extra challenges, the choir still sang to their best potential, which was only emphasized by the acoustics of the church.

“I was very happy we got to use the church and I think all of us are very happy for how we sang,” Wilson said. “Overall it was a great experience.”