On Friday, Sept. 20, La Salle held the first Open Mic Night of the year, which was led by junior Tabitha Obuchowski.

From songs like “Rainbow Connection” to “Mary Did You Know,” many talented singers and guitarists took the stage. Usually, Open Mic Night takes place around two to four times a year, but this year it’s going to be held once per semester. 

The Performing and Fine Arts Department Chair and Choir and Guitar teacher Mr. Otto Wild explained that Open Mic Night is important for the community because of how it provides a sense of the performing arts, offering an opportunity for students to perform onstage with low stakes.

Although this Open Mic Night took a while to plan, according to Mr. Wild, the performing arts are necessary for the school community. “If you don’t have performing arts in a school, it’s like not having [an] arm,” Mr. Wild said, expressing that not lacking a thriving Art Department means that, “the body of the school is not complete.” 

The purpose of Open Mic Night is “to share music with each other in an enjoyable way,” Mr. Wild said. 

Aiming to “give students opportunities to perform on stage, especially people who usually don’t perform on stage,” Mr. Wild said that Open Mic Night can also lead some performers — if they enjoyed singing or playing guitar — to join choir, band, or theater.

“If you’re interested in performing, it’s a really safe and easy space to try that out, whether you’ve done it 100 times before [or] whether it’s your first time,” said senior Phoebe Sandholm, who was light and sound track coordinator for this event. “It’s just really cool to see that side of some of your classmates.”

Either way, “don’t stress too much about it,” Sandholm said. “No matter how you perform, there’s still going to be people who back you up, and are glad that you performed.”