The Enumclaw High School Choir got to be a part of the Disneyland magic this midwinter break.

Every other year, the choir group — led by Paul Scott — takes a trip to perform around the country; this was the group’s 11th tour.

Although the end destination was the happiest place on earth, the choir also planned to perform at other venues like The Grotto in Oregon (this was canceled due to snow) and Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.

“We really packed in a lot,” Scott said before the group took off. “… It’s really about the kids finding something they love and diving in and really honing their craft. That’s the only way we can do stuff like this. It’s all them, performing at a really, really high level.”

Senior Sam Bursch is used to singing in front of large audiences, having been in the EHS choir for four years, but he said performing in Disneyland is different.

“We performed as cast members,” he said. “We were a part of the park’s Disney magic.”

The choir sang for roughly 25 minutes, spanning Disney’s musical repertoire from classics to modern Disney music and even newer Star Wars and Marvel pieces.

The choir also got to go behind the scenes of Disney and sing, almost without any sort of preparation, along with scenes of various Disney movies like The Nightmare Before Christmas and Moana. After the performance was through, the group then was able to listen to their performance along with the scene.

It was an inspiring moment for some.

“A lot of people have the idea that there’s not very many opportunities in the performing arts,” he said. “… [G]etting to do that workshop, it showed us students… that there actually are different opportunities in performing arts.”

Outside of performing around the country, from Hawaii to Disney World, the EHS choir is highly competitive at home; Scott said the choirs very often compete at the state level, and noted the mens choir placed second in the state last year.

“It’s the kids that should definitely get all of the kudos for their hard work,” Scott continued. “But obviously without really great [community] support, we wouldn’t have this incredible school.”

And Bursch thanked Scott not only for planning these “once in a lifetime” experiences, but for helping high schoolers find a community to be a part of.

“You’re not joining choir just to sing,” he said. “You’re joining choir to be a part of a healthy community, which is really important, especially in high school.”

Anyone who wants to catch the choir before it takes it summer break should attend its June 4th concert at 7 p.m. in the EHS auditorium.