Musical performances are arguably one of the best parts of graduation, as they showcase some of the talents of each class. This year, on June 4th, there will be several students from the class of 2016 taking the stage; one group and one solo. The group of performing students will include Harriet Pryor, Elizabeth de Wetter, Nick Vitari, Talitha Jones, Olivia Dolemba and Anna Belinski playing together. The solo will be by Talitha Jones.

All of the seniors in the group musical were brought together by the Folk Group Club at AHS. While the club consists of students of all ages, the seniors thought it would be a good idea to perform a song together at graduation. De Wetter and the club’s supervisor, Sarah Stevens, then sought to find the perfect song to wrap up senior year. The winning song was Graduation by an American pop artist “Vitamin C.”

When it came time for auditions, the group had only been practicing for a few weeks, but the piece had come together nicely.  

“Our goal is to show the talent in our class, and that’s why we tried to get such a big group and recruit  all of the kids that knew how to and want to perform,” said group folk performer Anna Belinski. “It’s a cool song, and it’s about the experience of graduating and leaving, yet still remaining friends, and it tells of the amount of time we’ve all (the seniors) spent together, and the relationships that have been built over these 12 years.”

The second musical number at graduation will be the solo performed by Talitha Jones, who is also singing in the group number. Jones chose to perform a song written by Carole King called You’ve Got a Friend. She has wanted to perform at graduation since she saw both her brother and sister perform at their graduations, and she has wanted to showcase this particular song since her sophomore year.

“Carole King is a songwriter and one of my inspirations, so I love her,” said Jones.  “ It’s just a really good song. It’s about relying on your friends and also being there, so it’s appropriate for graduation.”

There were three acts that auditioned for the two slots at graduation. The third group is the duo of Diana Flores and Marissa Buchholz who will be singing at the Senior Awards Assembly.

The order of the two graduation performances has yet to be determined. The Aspen High School’s class of 2016 graduation performances will be live at the Aspen Music Tent beginning at 1:00 pm on June 4.