For many, the term “AA” conjures up images of intense basketball playoffs, drawn-out soccer matches, and fall football match-ups. For junior Max Magers, however, the term immediately points in a non-athletic direction — the annual AA Choir Festival.

“It’s all the AA schools. We have special directors to help us with all the songs, and we ‘pump out’ seven songs for a concert,” Magers said.

The two day event, this year being held from Nov. 12-13 at CMR High School, is an opportunity for the top choirs in the state to get together and create music. It features many of Montana AA schools’ best choirs. They learn seven songs, all of which are performed at a special concert held on the final day.

This will be Magers’ second year of attending the AA Choir Festival, and his third year in choir. He is currently a bass for the CMR Chanteur choir and Russell Ayres. These two groups are the top choirs at CMR. Magers has been a member of Chanteur for two years, and Russell Ayres for one.

The performances at the AA Choir Festival are what most look forward to, and for Magers, it is no different. He explains how the increase in size of the choir leads to a drastic change in sound.

“When you work with people you’ve never sung with, and when you quadruple the size of your choir, your sound is remarkable,” he said.