THEY WON’T BOW TO PRESSURE. The Chippewa Falls Senior High School Wire Choir will bring its mix of string music and choreography to China in June.

Orchestras have traditionally been known for playing classical, concert-hall style music, but creative musicians are constantly breaking free from such stereotypes. Whether it is a YouTube sensation mixing cello with rap or violin and dubstep, there are always new ways emerging to express the fun of creating music. The Chippewa Falls Senior High School Wire Choir is no exception.

The Chi-Hi Wire Choir is a small branch of the school’s 150-student orchestra. Members must pass an audition and attend an early class twice a week. Last year, more than 60 students auditioned for the 26 available spots. When director Molly Nordin first began teaching in Chippewa Falls in 2002, the Wire Choir was already established. They would meet each week to learn and play pop music, all on string instruments. In 2005 however, the group saw Barrage, a small group of fiddlers who play music while dancing onstage. This was the beginning of bringing the Wire Choir to the next level.

They took this inspiration and for the remainder of that year began using choreography while playing (initially for only a one-minute song). Since then, they have been doing entire shows with choreography. And while Nordin puts together most of the choreography, it is definitely a team effort.

“I begin with concepts and then the students will add things, or will often have ideas for sections before I put the choreography together,” Nordin said, “Depending on time, sometimes I ask the students for visions they have with a section.”

This unique, creative group is one of the few around the country imitating what Barrage does on stage. “We are the ones doing the ‘ground breaking’ on this!” Nordin said, “There are other little groups throughout the country who have also copied Barrage, but they have around 10 students in their groups.”

They aren’t stopping at just being “ground breaking” either. The founders of Barrage, Dean Marshall and John Crozman, have put together a performance tour of China in June and asked select groups from around the United States to come along and perform; the Chi Hi Wire Choir is one of them.

“While in China we will be performing in seven different cities on some of the largest concert halls in the world,” Nordin said. “The trip will last two weeks, and when not rehearsing or performing, the students will get to see the Great Wall of China, Olympic Village, the Forbidden City, tour a tea factory and several markets.” To help raise the funds required for the trip, the Wire Choir has been receiving donations and have been able to raise $90,000 so far, with $15,000 left to go.

To help raise the remaining money needed, they are hosting a Color Medley 5K on Saturday, May 11.  Registration begins at 8:30am, with the run/walk beginning at 10 am. There will also be a DJ, snacks, and a Wire Choir performance. If you cannot make it to the Color Medley 5K, but want to see the Wire Choir in action, their final concert of the year will be at 7pm Tuesday, June 4 at Chi-Hi, 735 Terrill St.

For more information on the Chi-Hi Wire Choir, check out Wire-Choir.org.