After Revere High School’s Reverse A Capella performed choral piece Fré O during the winter concert, the group then used their voices to imitate the intro to Eat the Acid by Kesha. Senior Ava Farnham started singing her vocal solo. Her tone carried emotion and strength throughout the entire piece, intriguing the audience members.
Farnham is involved in many different programs at Revere High School (RHS). She has been involved in the choir program since sixth grade. She was in symphonic choir her freshman and sophomore year, chorale and Reverse A Capella junior year, and this school year, she managed to perform in all three choirs RHS offers. Outside choir Farnham is also a diver for the RHS swim team, and has been cheering since she was in Kindergarten.
Farnham said that competition days for cheer are usually on Sundays and that they are long days. She said that they wake up very early and spend the entire day working and practicing their routine. Apart from the competitions, there are many reasons why she loves cheer.
“[I’ve loved] The friendships and the bonds I’ve made over the years, and also just being able to cheer every Friday night, those games were really fun,” Farnham said.
Along with cheering, Farnham joined the swim team her junior year. She said that she had an interest in diving for a while, and she was encouraged to join the team. She said the reason she chose diving is because she already had some experience from some of the other extracurricular activities she is a part of.
“I already had a background of tumbling and stuff, so I just kind of did it, and it was really fun,” Farnham said.
Farnham said that she enjoyed meeting new people from different schools at the swim meets. She liked diving with new people because it helped drive her to do a good job when new people were watching her.
“I would practice with girls from schools around the area, and I got to meet new people,” Farnham said.
Farnham is not only involved in many different activities, she has also become a leader in many ways. This year, she was the cheer captain, diving captain and the social media manager for the choir program.
Choir director Sierra Pabon has had Farnham as a student since her sophomore year. Pabon said that Farnham has grown into a capable and reliable leader throughout her high school career.
“She’s made a total transformation. . . . She has really invested her time in the program and its well-being, not only in terms of time commitment and ensemble commitment, but just in leadership,” Pabon said.
Pabon said that Farnham is an ideal leader and is one of her standards for when she is looking for new leaders in the choir program. Pabon explains that Farnham is always on top of her job. She said that Farnham anticipates what needs to be done and does it right then and there.
“Ava is a very direct and clear person, which I appreciate. If something needs [to be] done, she is very trustworthy to just get it done, no complaints, no questions. She just does the thing,” Pabon said.
Reverse A Capella member Olivia Merolla said that Farnham’s voice has grown a lot from when she first met her. Merolla’s first impression of Farnham was a solo she had in the Symphonic Choir to the song, “Hush, somebody’s calling my name.” Merolla said that Farnham was very skilled at singing Soprano or higher, and mostly just sang soprano. In Farnham’s junior year, however, her range grew from not only singing soprano but also singing alto or lower.
“She used to be a very choral, soprano [singer] and now she’s got some sass in it. . . . She’s definitely got a belt going on,” Merolla said.
Merolla also said that both she and Farnham performed in their first Revere Players production for this year’s spring musical, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Merolla said that she was able to convince Farnham to audition with her.
“Her first and last [Revere] Player‘s production with me was such a blast, and I couldn’t imagine performing without her,” Merolla said.
Farnham said that she has always wanted to join Revere Players. She said that a lot of her choir friends also did Revere Players, so she decided to participate in the spring musical for her senior year.
“I just thought it would be a fun experience to have, and it’s been something that I wanted to do for a long time,” Farnham
Farnham is preparing for the Reverse Highlights concert on May 17 where she will perform her solo Eat the Acid. She is most excited to perform the song Hot Wings, performed originally in the Sony movie Rio. She plans on incorporating the training she has learned from tumbling into that performance by doing a backflip during that song.
