‘Glee’ Strikes a Chord With Local Choirs

When it premiered in 2009, the hit show “Glee” really struck a chord with high school students.

Rachel, Finn, Puck, and Quinn are household names, especially for teenagers in the Coachella Valley who relate to their stories and struggles.

“There’s a bunch of athletes, there’s rugby players, basketball, there’s cheerleaders, there’s soccer,” said student AJ Martin.

You might think he was describing a pep rally, but he’s talking about the choir at La Quinta High School.

For two years, he’s performed on stage and on the football field.

Watch Glee Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. on KDFX Fox 11

Seventeen-year-old Alison Dale is a varsity cheerleader, who also finds time to run track and field and do ballet.

But, her first love is choir.

And, as you can imagine, her schedule is a delicate balancing act.

“It’s different cause we have a lot to do,” Dale said. “People say ‘Oh, I have practice at this time and then I can go home and do my homework.’ I can’t. I have practice and then I have to go to rehearsal, and then I have to go home and do my homework at about 9 o’clock at night.”

Terri Ridilla teaches choir at La Quinta High.

And, she’s seen a shift in the choir culture as more athletes and boys sign up to sing.

“When I first came here I remember there were only 2 guys in choir, and now, now there are more boys than sopranos,” according to Ridilla.

Kevin Ascate is a freshman at Palm Springs High School and he says he has had friends tease him for joining choir.

“In middle school, I was afraid to join choir cause you get picked on cause you are a boy in choir and you like to sing, but I wanted to express myself so I was like okay,” Ascate said.

He’s deals with some of the same issues as the characters on “Glee.”

Kids we spoke with in Palm Springs and La Quinta enjoy watching the show because it mirrors their experiences.

“Choir is my favorite subject in school and it is great to see a program that shows you, you know, something that I love, people who are just like me who love choir and the arts,” Yoonji Jang said. The Palm Springs High senior has been singing all her life.

The choir at La Quinta High School is a diverse mix, not just athletes, but students with very different interests and backgrounds, brought together by their love of music.

“I wouldn’t know a lot of people in high school that I do know if I wasn’t in choir,” Dale said. “One of my best friends is someone I probably would never talk to if it wasn’t for choir. It’s like a family. It sounds cheesy, but it really is like a family.”