THE ECHO

by Simone Bender

This Friday, Mar. 7, will mark the beginning of Avon High School’s weekend-long concert and show choir invitational, known to competitors as AVI.

The competition, which will span over multiple days, hosts over 10 schools from across the region, with many bringing more than one choir to perform for judges of the Indiana State School Music Association (ISSMA).

Senior Olivia Gibson, the current president of Avon’s varsity mixed show choir, Accents, will be entering her fourth year as an AVI host, a position she said she will be looking forward to holding this weekend.

“[AVI] is a two-day event with the small school show choir competition being held on Friday and the concert choir and large school show choir competition being held on Saturday,” said Gibson. “AVI is a hotspot for prominent show choirs around central Indiana and we also get a few show choirs from out of state like a show choir from Oklahoma this year.”

AVI is run by many volunteers, including Avon choir students, who are assigned schools to “host” throughout the day. Gibson said the jobs of a host can range from all types of tasks like escorting choirs to different performance venues as well as preparing homerooms for the groups they work with.

“As hosts, the Avon students decorate and set up classrooms as home rooms for each choir. This is the homebase for choirs where they leave all of their stuff as well as the dressing room where they get ready before performing,” said Gibson. “A lot of hosts go heavy with the decorations and dress up to make it more fun for the choirs. When hosting, the day can feel pretty long since hosts need to stay outside of the home rooms for the choirs to watch over them, make sure nothing bad is happening, and answer any questions. Most hosts right now are preparing themes and decorations for their rooms with their partners.”

Hosting is not only a job to be done for students, though, according to Gibson. It’s also a chance for them to build camaraderie between schools.

“The most exciting part about hosting is getting to make new friends within the choir you’re hosting and being able to hang out with those new people and learn more about them,” said Gibson.

The competition will be starting promptly after school on Friday afternoon, and students who purchase tickets will be welcome to enter and view any of the performing choirs as well as visit any of the onsite vendors.

“The school gets a bit of a makeover for AVI with all of the home rooms being decorated which means the hallways become more exciting and fun to walk through. In the commons, we also hang up senior banners with all of our Avon choir members,” said Gibson. “Overall, the school gets a lot of spirit added to it for the weekend!”