EDIT MAIN
Plus_blue
Trash_icon

Tom “Yeti” Bates is in his second year in Maximum Forte and is a junior at Charleston High School. Tom is a Tenor 2 and loves to sing, read, play sports, and throw cards in his free time. He has loved to sing for as long as he can remember and has been in numerous choirs, ensembles, and musicals throughout his schooling. He identifies with the song “Go the Distance”, because it really emulates how he looks at life, and how he wants to move forward with it. He can relate to the words from that song because they show hopefulness for the future, just like the hopefulness he has.

Patience “Pat” Beever is senior who is has been a part of Maximum Forte for three years. She sings as an Alto for the group. In her free time, Patience loves to keep busy. You might find her on your daily walk drawing characters on the sidewalk or see her tending to her gnome garden. With her love of art, she practices classic animated characters in her sketch book. When Patience is not busy at work, you can find her with family and friends to pass the time. She plans on attending Lake Land next fall and then a four year college. Patience loves to participate in community and school musical programs. She has also done ILMEA her sophomore and junior year. With music influencing her life, she will constantly listen to all different genres. Her favorite song is “Total Eclipse of the Heart”. This is because she has great memories that tie to this song and loves to sing along with Bonnie Tyler. 

Olivia “Hiccups” Bennett is a sophomore Alto/Tenor. This is her first year in the group and she is excited to see the year unfold. Olivia enjoys a large variety of music in her spare time and has a love for Frank Sinatra’s work. She enjoys many things that provide her with an artistic outlet to express herself, such as writing and various crafts. Olivia is also a part of the Advanced Mixed Ensemble and enjoys participating in Charleston High School’s annual musicals, ILMEA District Choir, and ILMEA District Vocal Jazz Choir. Oliva identifies with the song “Beyond the Sea” by Bobby Darin. “Beyond the Sea” reflects her passion for jazz and reminds her of her childhood.

Breonna “Bree” Bower is a sophomore at CHS this year and trying out her first year in the a cappella group. She’s a Soprano and is part of the new Advanced Treble Ensemble created this year and has been a part of chorus since fifth grade, and being part of chorus throughout these years has helped Bree with her confidence as a performer. Some activities Bree likes to do on her free time are singing of course, listening to music, sometimes exercising, writing poetry, and trying to write songs. There are many songs that Bree identifies with, but one of them is called "Hard Sometimes", by Ruel. She picked this song because sometimes in life it's hard to be happy and feel good all the time and you might not feel like you belong and that can be hard, but you should always keep trying and try to push through.

Kevin “Kevin” Caltry is a senior Vocal Percussionist/Bass in his second year of Maximum Forte. Kevin has been in multiple choirs throughout his music career since 5th grade. Kevin is involved in many clubs at his high school including student council, science club, Tri M music honor society, and the national honor society. In his free time Kevin enjoys playing soccer on his high school and club team, playing videogames, dominating in his fantasy water polo league, hanging out with friends, and annoying everyone around him with his beatboxing. Kevin most identifies with the song “mambo no. 5” (A little bit of) by Lou Bega due to its complex chord structure and its intense lyrics. In college, Kevin plans to study political science in the prelaw program with a full ride spike ball scholarship.



Mitch "Bear Hug" Cox is a junior at Charleston High school, and it is his second year in Maximum Forte. He sings Bass in both advanced choir and Maximum Forte. In his free time, he is either working at Joey's Place, playing tabletop games with friends, or just taking some time alone to relax. Mitch started performing at the age of four as "Lucky" the puppy in the show 101 Dalmatians. Ever since then he has been taking opportunities to perform. In between shows and school Mitch used to Throw Shotput and Discus for Charleston Middle School and he also used to be on the scholastic bowl team there too. The song that Mitch identifies with is "Tell it like it is" by The Arcadian Wild, because he likes the blunt message and the beautiful composition.

Mikey “Wazowski” Fleming is a sophomore and this is his first year in Maximum Forte. His voice part is Tenor. The song he identifies most with is “Happy Sad” from The Addams Family musical. It talks about how sometimes there will be things that fill you with joy, but at the same time make you sad that you won’t see someone as often or that your life will change in certain ways. It also says that it is a good thing that you feel this way because it is natural to feel this way in life. He is a member of the Scouts BSA Troop 141. Activities he enjoys are playing videogames and spending time with his sister and his cats. He has taken piano lessons since second grade, has been in choir since fifth grade, and voice lessons since sixth grade. He has been a part of community and high school musicals.

Marissa "Mars" Green is a junior at Charleston High School. When she is not busy on the tennis courts with her teammates, she is typically working or spending time with her closest friends. She has been in Maximum Forte for two years and is a Soprano. A song that she identifies herself with is "Midnight Sky" by Miley Cyrus. Marissa identifies with this song because she’s a very independent person. Marissa has been a part of the choir program for 6 years. This is her second year in the Advanced Mixed Chorus. Marissa also took Concert Choir during her freshman year at Charleston. Marissa is a member of the Tri-M Music Honors Society and has been for the past year. She has participated in school musicals since she first got involved with the music program at Charleston and has continued to do so in her high school career. Marissa has auditioned for ILMEA for the past two years and made it to the District Level Festival both years.

Nick "Nickname" Hawk is a junior at Charleston High School, and has been a Tenor in Maximum Forte for 2 years. He loves to run Cross Country, and also enjoys playing percussion in band. Nick has been in chorus and band since he was in fifth grade and doesn't plan to quit. He enjoys participating in ILMEA and acting in musicals and has been in multiple such as: Joseph and the Technicolored Dream Coat, The Music Man, and Oklahoma. He loves and identifies with the song, "Keep Your Head Up" by Andy Grammar, he believes the song has a really good message and tells listeners to relax, and don’t stress to much about everything, and to make sure you take the time to live and have fun.

Megan " Mega Mix" Heise is a sophomore at Charleston High School. This is her first year in Maximum Forte as an Alto, as well as a Vocal Percussionist and Sound Tech in training. She likes to play the French horn, bass guitar, and soccer. Megan began performing in the fifth grade for her school band and sang in the choir for two years. During her eighth grade year, she joined local band Janoma as the group’s bass guitarist and has been with them ever since. Since then, she has been accepted into ILMEA twice, joined the CHS Marching Band, and has assisted several productions of school musicals as part of the crew and pit orchestra. Megan favorite song is the "Star Wars Main Theme" because it was the first song she ever learned to play on an instrument, and connects to her childhood of watching Star Wars.

D’Arcy “Windex” Johnson is a senior at Charleston High School. She has been in both Maximum Forte, and the Advanced Mixed Chorus for three years, and has been affiliated with the music department since fifth grade. She is the soprano section leader in Maximum Forte, as well as for the Advanced Mixed Chorus. Along with being in Maximum Forte, D’Arcy has been pursuing a solo career in music, and has released an EP that is available on all streaming platforms. If D’Arcy were to pick a song that she identifies with most, she would pick “That’s Life” by Frank Sinatra, because it’s a song about getting over life’s negativities, and learning how to live life, even when it’s difficult. After high school, D’Arcy plans to attend Greenville University with a major in Music Industry Studies with a focus in Audio Engineering.

Nathan “Brother Eagle” Logsdon is a senior who has been a Bass in the group for three years. He really identifies with the song “Turning Out” by AJR because he feels like it relates well to how different the real world is from what you think and how even though you’re older doesn’t mean you’ve actually grown up. Some hobbies of his include playing bass in a band and learning new things about technology and he plans to pursue Aerospace Engineering after High School at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. He has been in choir ever since sixth grade and has been in Advanced Chorus and musicals throughout Middle School and into High School. Nathan is also the Bass II section leader in Advanced Chorus and loves making music with his friends and it is truly an honor for him to be part of Mrs. Sharp’s favorite section. The Bass II’s. 

Nautica “Note-tica” Long is currently a junior, singing alto in Maximum forte for her second time. Other than a cappella and choir she loves to go thrift shopping with friends and try out different arts and crafts. Since fifth grade Nautica has been in the choir program, participating in different musicals the high school and community theater has produced such as Mama Mia, The Music Man, and Annie. A song fully in touch with Nautica’s inner diva is “Sk8er Boi” by Avril Lavigne. No matter what mood she can jam out to the song, associating it with spending time with her friends and family. 

Connor “Micky D” Mellott is a third-year member of Maximum Forte and the Baritone section leader. He is currently a senior in high school and plans to go to Illinois State University to learn international business with a focus on Japanese language and culture. Connor first joined choir in the 5th grade and since then has been a part of concert choir, advanced choir, the annual school musical, and Maximum Forte. Some of his accomplishments include being one of only thirty people to be in the All State vocal jazz ensemble as well as playing the role of Robertson Ay in Charleston High School’s production of Mary Poppins. The song Connor connects with the most is “Rainbow Connection” by Kermit the Frog. He connects with this song specifically because of the ideas of finding yourself and following your dreams even if it may be difficult. Connor’s hobbies include practicing piano, reading, playing video games with his friends, and watching TV.

Logan “Awkward Silence” Mellott is a senior at CHS, and is a Tenor in Its Advance Chamber Ensemble, Maximum Forte. Logan has been apart of Maximum Forte for two years. First as a sound tech, second as a singer. Music is one of his biggest passions and has always played an important part of his life. The Song he most identifies with is “For What Its Worth” by Buffalo Springfield. He identifies with this song due to its strong message that we need to pay attention to what goes on around us, or we won’t be able to change it. Some of Logan’s favorite hobbies include reading and walking. Reading is an important part of his daily life and is his oldest hobby. He also spends a lot of time walking, and his favorite time to walk is at night. Logan Has loved being a part of Maximum Forte, and can’t wait to see how the group will grow when he leaves.

Piper “Pebbles” Rhoads is a senior at CHS in her third year of being a Sound Tech/Manager in Maximum Forte. When she isn’t behind the board at a performance, she sings as an Alto for the group. Although she is the shortest member of Maximum Forte, she is in fact the oldest. Outside of Forte, Piper loves listening to music, but specifically to albums from beginning to end with no skips. She can easily spend hours in a bookstore if left unattended and is known for making memes relating to events from choir and the group. Since she was a freshman, she has been a part of crew and stage management in some way for eight shows between CHS, CMS, and CISCO. She joined choir in fifth grade because of an impulse decision and hasn’t regretted it for a second. She plans to attend EIU to get her undergraduate degree and then continue on to Pharmacy school. A song she identifies with is “Spaces” by One Direction”. This song has helped her cope with quarantine and being unable to see her friends for indefinite amounts of time.

Sadie “Tatey-tot” Stowell is a sophomore, and this is her first year as a Soprano in Maximum Forte. She has enjoyed her first year as a member on the CHS tennis team and is excited to participate again in future years. Sadie’s hobbies include eating mint chocolate chip ice cream, camping, reading, doing a variety of crafts, and watching Hallmark movies. She also enjoys helping to renovate the rental properties that her family owns. Someday she would love to have a pet goat named “Chattahoochee” and a chicken named “Cricket” that she would nickname “Crick”. Sadie has been in choir ever since fith grade and has participated in all of the musicals. She has performed in the ILMEA district festival every year since sixth grade. A song Sadie can identify with is “Hakuna Matata” from The Lion King because she doesn’t worry about too much stuff and she tries to be pretty chill.

Soren “Soobroobn” Stowell is a senior and is in his third year as a Bass/Baritone in Maximum Forte. He has been in choir ever since fifth grade and has participated in all of the school musicals. This last year, Soren was cast as Mr. Banks in the High School’s production of Mary Poppins. He hopes to study Music Education at Brigham Young University and serve a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is excited to have his sister Sadie in Maximum Forte this year. In his free time, Soren enjoys playing the piano, reading, watching Phineas and Ferb, and doodling. He plans to join the tennis team this spring. A song that Soren identifies with is “Everything is Awesome” from the LEGO movie. He can identify with this song because he tries his best to look on the bright side of things even when it gets hard.

Kiley "Kiwi" Will is a sophomore at CHS in her 1st year of Maximum Forte, and she sings Alto for the group. Kiley started choir in the fifth grade and has loved it ever since. She is very passionate about musical theatre and has been cast in 14 plays or musicals with hopes to be in many more. Her favorite roles have been July in Annie, Lucia II in The Long Christmas Dinner, and a Chimney Sweep in Mary Poppins. Her two favorite musicals are Newsies and Tuck Everlasting. Kiley also enjoys dancing, and her favorite styles are contemporary, tap, and jazz. Outside of music, she loves watching movies, reading, baking, writing, painting, learning about historical events, and making fun coffee flavors at home. A song Kiley identifies with is “Hey Lover” by Wabie because it talks about loving someone for who they are instead of what they have. 

Tristan “Thorn“ Williams is a sophomore and it is his first year in Forte as a Bass. He started singing in chorus in sixth grade and doing Advanced Chorus in seventh grade, along with participating in band for three years. He likes being in Forte because of the opportunity to be able to sing different type of music than traditional choir songs, also to meet new people and get better at singing in general. Some of his hobbies are playing piano and riding his bike whenever he can, he also does Boy Scouts with some of his friends that have been doing it since fifth grade. In seventh grade he competed in the Speech Team tournament and got 3 first place medals, and a Judges Choice Award with Mitch. The song Tristan identifies with "I’ll Get By" done by Avi Kaplan, he identifies with this because it shows that you just got to keep going no matter what happens and that it is good to always have a positive attitude.