Photo by Sarah Owens.
Vestavia Hills resident Ivan Riley, middle, joined the Birmingham Boys Choir when he was in the third grade. He is now a senior at The Altamont School.
Ivan Riley, a Vestavia Hills resident, is a senior at The Altamont School and member of the Birmingham Boys Choir.
Q: How did you get involved with performing?
A: So when I was in, I believe, the second grade, the Birmingham Boys Choir sent an ambassador to my school, Vestavia [Elementary] West, and they talked to us for 30 to 45 minutes after school one day telling us about the choir, and I decided that I was interested. And so the next year, I signed up.
Q: What inspires you as a performer?
A: Definitely my fellow choir members is the biggest thing for me. I enjoy singing in the choir because I feel like I'm part of the community, and I've never really been big on other kinds of musical performance. I don't play any kind of instrument or anything, but it's definitely the community. And you know, like doing my part, I want to make sure I don't let other people down in my section.
Q: What is your favorite or most memorable performance?
A: Well, it's not my favorite, [but] my most memorable performance was my very first one. I was really, really nervous, and I threw up on the stage on another boy’s shoes. And it still comes up sometimes.
Q: When was your first performance?
A: It was the Christmas performance when I was in my third grade year, when I was nine. So 2015.
Q: Well, what about your favorite one?
A: My favorite one is probably when we performed for the Taste of Birmingham. Yeah, we've done that two or three years now, and I always really enjoy it.
