Monday, August 26, 2013

Another honor for our young people . . .

Yesterday I received an email from Ken Riggs, our high school choir director, sharing notification that the Tahoma High School Chamber Choir has been invited to perform next March at the Northwest Division of the American Choral Directors’ Association convention.  Below, are Ken's words about this wonderful opportunity and validation of the choir's accomplishments.


. . .  Every two years, the Northwest Division of the American Choral Directors’ Association holds a convention.  This division covers the six northwestern states (Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming), and hundreds of professional choir directors will attend.  As part of the convention, some of the best choirs in the northwest are invited to perform.  These are choirs that represent the true pinnacle of our art form.  Many of the groups are adult professional level, but there are also some university level choirs and a few public school choirs.  Only three high school choirs were selected to perform, and our THS Chamber Choir is one of them!  This is about the highest honor a high school choir can receive.  

The audition process requires recordings from the past three years in order to show a tradition of excellence (and not just one lucky year), and then selections are made by a panel of experts based solely on what they hear (they don’t know who they are listening to).  The THS Chamber Choir will perform at Seattle’s historic Town Hall in March as part of the convention.  

In the true Tahoma way Ken gives all the credit to the young people, but we know that without his commitment and expertise they would not be in a position for this recognition.  Thanks to him and to the young people over time whose commitment and talent  made this invitation possible.  I'm sure that they will make us proud.


2012 - 2013 Chamber Choir


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