Choir Member’s Russian Family Helps With Repertoire

The universal language of music notes written on paper are
easy for the Hemet West Valley chamber choir to understand. It’s
the words that coincide with them — written in a language that
almost none of them could begin to read or pronounce — that is the
hard part.

This year, in gearing up for their annual fall concert that will
take place on Tuesday, the choir is preparing to sing a song in
Russian.

But thanks to Jessica Pirch and her family, the song should very
well be in tune by showtime.

Students in the Hemet West Valley High School chamber choir and
their teacher Joyann Gongaware rehearse a song in Russian. “It’s
really fun singing it at school,” says junior Jessica Pirch, whose
family hails from Russia. “I will always remember this. It’s
awesome.”

Pirch, a junior at West Valley and a choir member, is a
first-generation American whose family hails from Russia. This
week, her mother and uncle — both of whom emigrated from Russia in
1993 — have spent time in the classroom helping to teach the
roughly 20 students the finer points of pronouncing the difficult
language.

“It’s really fun singing it at school,” Pirch said. “I will
always remember this. It’s awesome.”