Amid the swaying trees and splashing waves of Hawaiian shorelines, Portola High’s choir program brought its voices to the island of Oahu, transforming a program-wide spring break trip into a blend of performance and connection.
The Portola High choir hosts a spring break trip to a different state every two years in accordance with Choirs of America, an organization that brings student ensembles from across the country to perform together. This year, the choir visited Hawaii and performed their fall concert finale song, “Stand Together,” and two special songs with all the participating choirs called “Aloha ‘Oe’” and “Mahalo Piha” at the 2026 Aloha State Choir Festival.
“We were mostly singing songs that we already knew,” Portola Singers member and sophomore Jibreel Haidar said. “So once we got to Hawaii, we did spend a little bit [of time] practicing the songs. There were two pieces that we sang with all the choirs that came for the performance and we had to learn those on the day of, but they weren’t too hard.”
Aside from performing, the students also engaged in several group activities organized by choir teacher Adrian Rangel-Sanchez and other choir staff. The groups stayed in Oahu, which allowed them to tour Pearl Harbor, experience a traditional Hawaiian Luau, visit several beaches and participate in group hikes, according to Portola Singers member and senior Sarah AlJazzar.
“I definitely got closer with everyone,” AlJazzar said. “It was really nice, because a lot of my best friends were on this trip. It’s also really nice to talk to people that you don’t normally talk to because they might be in other choirs or other grades, but since anyone was allowed to go on the trip from any choir, it’s nice to talk to those people as well.”
The purpose of the Hawaii trip was to form closer bonds between Portola High’s choir students, learn about other parts of the country and most importantly, enhance students’ skills, according to Rangel-Sanchez.
“We got to work with some choral directors who are nationally or even internationally famous,” Rangel-Sanchez said. “They gave us feedback on things that we were doing well, and also some ideas in terms of technique, styles and ways that we can continue to improve. I think everyone who got to be part of those workshops got to learn something that they could do better or think about differently when approaching singing.”
