Silence. Not what you expect at the start of a show choir performance and certainly not what Happiness Director Storm Ziegler wanted to hear. After a technical issue with a soundboard, Ziegler encourages Senior Izzy Westercamp, from the audience, to continue singing. She immediately started singing, handling it professionally.
January 17th, Happiness Inc. performed at Linn-Mar High School. Happiness won best band, best soloist, and placed 5th overall.
Despite the inconveniences with the soundboard, Westercamp won best female soloist, singing “My Future” by Billie Eilish and “Jealousy” by Olivia Rodrigo.
“I have wanted it since freshman year after getting my first solo while I was in Protégé,” Westercamp said. “It was a little bit of disbelief, but also overwhelming with support and it was extremely surreal. When I was walking up to get the award, it was really exhilarating and felt euphoric.”
Ziegler is confident in the rest of the season for Happiness. His goals for the season are to continue to grow as a whole, continuing to be confident in Westercamp’s ability to grow as well.
“I want her to keep building consistently and diving more into her character because if she does that, I think she will see herself getting more awards,” Ziegler said. “The kids’ stamina and quality of execution always grows throughout the season and I have no reason to think otherwise.”
Happiness Inc. performs at Prairie High School’s Premiere at 4 pm on Saturday, January 31st.
