Brandon Centers is the choir director here at Central Hardin High School. Along with choir, he also teaches Arts and Humanities and Guitar. On Sep. 26, he took 13 of his best choir students to the 4th District Concert. 

For those who don’t know, 4th District is an opportunity for students in a single choir to be able to go out and sing with a larger group of singers around the area. Our choir at Central Hardin has around 30 people, whereas the 4th District event had around 150 singers. 

“The 4th District Choir Concert has always held a special place in my heart,” senior Preslee Decker said. “My favorite memory is getting to eat lunch at Campbellsville at a table with all of my close friends and my choir teacher, Mr. Centers. I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in my life!”

The planning process for this event starts before school starts. The district choir directors meet to decide the event’s music list. A third party gets paid to record each individual part of the arrangement for the students to learn. The kids actually learn the parts on their own before 4th District and practice together at the event location before the concert. 

As for who gets to go, all grade levels who have been in choir before get to participate except for freshmen. As for those new to choir, they are welcome to audition for a spot in the event. The cost this year was $40. 

In a recent interview, Centers, who has taught at Central for 18 years, stated that his favorite parts of 4th District are lunch and the sectionals. The reason he said lunch is because they get to eat with and around the other students. It is a chance to commune with people, instead of just singing all day. 

He said sectionals because he enjoys working with each individual voice part, and that it is great to be able to really hear what each part is supposed to sound like. 

“Somebody else asked me this yesterday and I immediately responded with lunch. Yeah, we get to go to the. So we get to go to the the college cafeteria and eat lunch. And that’s nice because you get to see all your colleagues and all the kids and sit down and talk to them for a little bit. You get to sit down and commune with people, which I think is cool. My favorite part is doing the sectionals. I love to work with the individual voice parts. I think it’s really cool to sit down and really hone in on what this part is supposed to sound like,” Centers said.

When asked his favorite song to have his choir perform, he said, “The Lord Bless You And Keep You is the string that holds every single group I’ve ever taught together.” 

This is his 18th year teaching and he has taught every group he’s ever had this song. His hopes are that one day if he got everybody back together, they all would know this piece. They perform this at the end of every concert they do, and he invites anyone who has been in choir before to come up and sing it with them. 

Can students still join choir?

 “Come by and see me. There’s a place for everyone who wants to make music, who wants to be a part of something bigger than themselves, who wants to be involved with music in any capacity,” Centers said.

 He also said that music isn’t just about performing, it’s about all the parts that go into the performance and the teamwork it takes to create art.

If you are interested in being a part of the choir ensemble, or music as a whole, stop by and see Brandon Centers in room 130. You can also email him at [email protected] .