On Feb. 7, the South Carolina Music Educators Association (SCMEA) hosted its annual state choir performance in Columbia at the Koger Center of Arts. The competition brought together the best of the best vocalists and choir groups from the whole state of South Carolina. The meeting was highly prestigious and took lots of practice, rehearsals and effort just to get a spot to compete. The concert featured various musical pieces and a variety of genres including classical, contemporary and even gospel.
Kimberly Colon, SHS choir director, enjoys teaching her students and watching them improve, with their standards set high.
“We have two big things going on in the choir department – our chorale performed at the SCMEA on February 7, which went well. Then on March 11 and 12, we will be performing at the SCMEA Concert Performance Assessment which is going to be hosted here at SHS,” Colon said.
Chorales from across the state competed against each other showcasing their repertoires that they had practiced for months in advance. Several judges strictly critiqued the chorales on different types of musical mechanics like emotion during the performance, other technical skills, dynamic range, sight-reading ability and the overall sound and tone accuracy. Getting all of these components just right for one performance can seem to be a little stressful at times, especially when it comes time to sight-reading and performing a piece the choir has never seen before. However, the Spartanburg High School’s performance went exceptionally well and delivered a stunning experience.
Johnny Rubio (12) is a member of the Spartanburg High School Choir, performing with the Vikings for years.
“A lot of work goes into preparation to perform. We run through our pieces dozens of times before it’s time to perform. Our most recent performance at SCMEA went very well for us. I’ve had lots of fun with my time with the choir all these years and I’m excited to see what we can do at here for the SCMEA Performance Assessment in a few weeks,” Rubio said.
The SCMEA state choir not only gave students the opportunity to compete at such a prestigious stage but also gave them the opportunity to grow and develop as singers and vocalists. With such a strong performance at the concert, the future is bright for the Spartanburg High School choir group.
Behr Hutson (11) is also a member of the Viking Choir and enjoyed his time at the SCMEA performance.
“I thought the entire group did really well at such a prestigious concert. We all put in lots of work to try and get every single detail right and we all have a good bond going on in class whether it’s rehearsal or getting on stage to perform,” Hutson said.
