Junior Chris Echols is no stranger to the performance world. Echols has been in school choir since fifth grade.
After joining choir at Foster Elementary, Echols did a pop show that fueled his love for choir.

Kingwood Middle School choir teacher Kathryn Frost influenced Echols the most in his choir journey.

“She just always believed in me,” Echols said. “She was like, ‘You can do this!’ I can and I did.”

Echols tries to get in at least two hours of choir practice a day, especially now as he participates in regional choir auditions.

“I’ve done choir for way too long to not be passionate about it,” said Echols, who is a Tenor 2 – the second-highest voice range for males.

One of Echols’s favorite choir moments is last year’s regional choir concert.

“I like to learn songs with a whole big group of people performing it,” Echols said. “And I got a plaque out of it, so that’s the best part.”

Choir has not always been easy for Echols. He has experienced a lack of confidence and stage fright during his years of performing.

“If I don’t believe in myself, I stop enjoying it because of self doubt; and then I think, why keep going?” Echols said. “But I keep doing it [because] it’s fun.”

Echols’s most memorable encounter with stage fright was the summer of sixth grade. He went to a family reunion and wanted to sing a song for everyone but was unable because he felt he would be judged. He still wishes he had sang that day.

“If you crash and burn, who cares? You’ll forget it in like two days,” Echols said. “Do not let that define you. Do not let one bad incident define who you are as a singer or person.”