Assembly

It was exciting and freightening to file into the first assembly of 1953. I was a newby sophomore boarding student, 1,200 miles from home. There was a sea of moving faces and shuffling noise, some laughing. Security was a little wooden chair. And then it grew quiet. The boys started: zoom! gol-ly gol-ly gol-ly zoom! gol-ly golll-yyy; zoom! gol-ly gol-ly gol-ly zoom! gol-ly golll-yyy. After several rounds came the low melody, a beautiful burst of female voices, raising through the rafters and echoing about the hall; the sapranos added the star burst, and piqued my inner-most sensivities. All three parts were now in sync and I finally got my wits about me to join the next round. We were feeding from each other's energy. The last round was loud and spectacular. Then it was silent; there were a few coughs as the Headmaster rose and began the business at hand. His words were lost to me. He was talking, I could see his mouth moving, but I was replaying those beautiful saprano voices over and over in my mind.

All these years later, that performance still ranks as my most favorite moment at ACS. That morning I was unprepared for the beauty I was about to receive. Those female voices, in unison, gracile, delicate...so powerful, still ring in my memory. Rolf Christophersen

Rolf Christophersen