On Tuesday, May 20 and Wednesday, May 21, 2025, the doors of the Ida B. Wells High School (IBW) auditorium opened at 7 p.m. for the annual end-of-the-year OwlAntics Showcase.
This less formal concert didn’t only present songs from the orchestra and three choirs at IBW but also served as a showcase to highlight as many individual performers as possible over the two days.
“I think it’s a little bittersweet for me because the concert kind of wraps up everything for choir,” said Davina Scott, a junior at IBW, who joined the Wells Advanced Vocal Ensemble (WAVE) this year and has been part of Wellsingers since her sophomore year.
“Time is going by really fast and the seniors are leaving and it just marks the end of the school year for me,” said Scott.
While Margaret Murer, the orchestra and choir teacher, supported the performing groups as a conductor and piano accompanist, seniors Marissa Margolin and Addison Feld-Gore ran the show on the first night, and Gordon Nile and Nick Gettel-Gilmartin on the second night of the concert.
After guests, families and friends filled the auditorium, IBW’s intermediate choir, Wellsingers, opened the concert with “Super Trooper” by ABBA, which helped bring the audience’s attention to the stage and the start of the show.
For the first time since COVID, Wellsingers were invited to Oregon Schools Activities Association (OSAA)’s State Championship. After placing third in districts, Wellsingers placed 16th at the State Championship at Oregon State University on May 10, 2025.
After “Super Trooper” and some select individual performances, IBW introductory choir, Concert Choir, presented “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. They also performed “A Million Dreams” by Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams and Ziv Zaifman later.
The different sections of Wellsinger’s IBW’s sopranos, altos and tenors individually performed the songs “Linger” by The Cranberries, “Lay All Your Love On Me” by ABBA and “Bye Bye Bye” by NSYNC.
All of these songs were throwbacks and popular among the crowd, earning laughs about the sections’ outfits that correlated to the songs.
Interspersed in the concert was also the Wells Chamber Orchestra. Though they are a small group, they have been successful in the past weeks as well. They won their district division and placed eighth at the Orchestra OSAA’s State Championship at Mount Hood Community College on May 2, 2025.
The Wells Chamber Orchestra performed the songs “Lover’s Waltz” arranged by Andrew Dabczynski and the theme from “Up” arranged by César Madeira. Two of their violins, Elsa Weber and Ruby Parr, performed a duet, and cellist Isaac Fisher and bassist Aiden Rice each presented solos.
Having an individual, group or duet performance can be daunting. “Being on stage alone with two people is really scary but it was fun, we felt pretty good about it,” said Weber.

After winning their district division, the most advanced choir at IBW, WAVE, also recently competed in the OSAA’s State Championships at Mount Hood Community College on May 2, 2025, and placed eighth.
Going into the competition, they expected to place higher. “[It] was kind of a shock for us,” said Scott, “I thought our balance was a little bit off at State but I’m also glad that we had the opportunity to go.”
However, at the OwlAntics Showcase, WAVE didn’t disappoint. Both their songs “Apple Tree” by AURORA and “Homeward Bound” by Marta Keen warranted many cheers and conversations after their performances.
Solo singers Josephine Rustvold, Nile and Gettel-Gilmartin also caught the audience’s attention, as well as seniors Margolin and Feld-Gore, who are planning on studying Vocal Performance in college next year.

On a solemn but sweet note, Wellsingers closed the concert with “Omnia Soul” by Z. Randall Stroope. “One of my favorite songs is ‘Omnia Soul’ which is the graduation song. I think it’s so emotional and it’s just a beautiful song,” said Scott.
However, this will not be the last time you will hear ‘Omnia Soul.’ The song was recorded for the IBW graduation ceremony and will be played at Portland State University on June 4, 2025.