The Sanford High School Treble Choir performs at the ACDA Spring Adjudicated Festival. Photo: Jordyn Martin
By Jordyn Martin, Sanford High School sophomore
Four of Sanford High School’s choral ensembles earned high marks at the Maine chapter of the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Spring Adjudicated Festival, held April 30-May 1 at Scarborough High School.
The festival is a relatively new annual event where students work with and are scored by choral clinicians while performing in a highly intense and exciting area. Schools from across Maine bring their choirs to perform and be judged on two pieces per ensemble, as well as participate in a sightreading clinic. Choirs are judged on both their performance and their sightreading, with performance weighing more heavily in the overall score.
Chorale, a mixed ensemble that includes every SHS choir member from block 2 Chorus, block 5 Chorus, block 2 Chamber Singers, block 5 Treble Choir, and Vox Sparta, received an overall rating of Excellent for a performance of a traditional South African song “Tshotshoza,” featuring a solo by freshman Isaiah Goodale, and a modern American folk song, “Homeward Bound.”
Sanford Vox Sparta performs at the festival. Photo: Jeanne Robicheau
Vox Sparta, Sanford’s student-led extracurricular tenor and bass ensemble formed just last school year, was given a Superior rating in all categories. The group performed the contemporary pop song “My Best,” arranged by senior Ryan Kane, and the Southern American folk hymn “Wayfaring Stranger.”
Also earning a Superior rating was Sanford High’s auditioned soprano and alto ensemble, Treble Choir. They performed “A Girl’s Garden” and “Never One Thing,” featuring various solos.
The last Sanford choir of the night to perform, Chamber Singers, the auditioned mixed ensemble, earned an overall rating of Excellent. The group first performed their rendition of Mozart’s classic piece, “Ave Verum Corpus,” followed by a modern Scottish folk ballad “Caledonia.”
This year was the first one in which all SHS choirs were brought to an ACDA festival, along with their piano accompanist, Joanna Hamblin. Choral Director Ryan Geary explained that he wanted to give more students the chance to experience this kind of event.
“We’re going to create a culture of people that want to get better and want to experience music at the highest level,” he said. He called the festival “a very promising experience for everyone.”
Members of the choral groups are:
Chorale: Ava Allen, Morgan Bailey, Emma Beers, Jakob Bendel, Harte Bisson-Post, Anna Brown, Isabella Burns, Cynthia Carroll, Michael Carpenter, Callia Curtis, Avila Cyr, Claire Davie, Guillianna Drouin, Kaylee Durgan, Perry Durgan III, Ava Fagan, Gwen Fogarty, TJ Folk, Keaghan Gagnon, Isaiah Goodale, Kai Hamblin, Logan Hamblin, Benjamin Hartford, Eliane Hebo, Rebecca Horton, Trevor Howard, Riley Hunter, Natalie Huntley, Alex Janousek, Eleanor Journey, Ryan Kane, Helena Knight, Mackenzie Lavertu, Evan Lynch, Jordyn Martin, Bella McKay, Matthew Meyers, Shawn Miller, Maria Misenheimer, Miranda Payeur, Liliana Price, Sophia Randall, Alahana Richardson, Sky Richardson, Jeanne Robicheau, Delilah Rock, Sebastian Roy, Margaret Sanborn, Loretta Sanfason, Meredith Schoenherr, Azure Shrubsall, Josiah Thoms, Olivia Thorgerson, Wren Trivolino, Jack Van Gieson, Liana Viroch, Lyriel Westgate, Ariana Young
Vox Sparta: Keaghan Gagnon, Isaiah Goodale, Logan Hamblin, Ryan Kane, Evan Lynch, Jordyn Martin, Josiah Thoms, Jack Van Geison
Treble Choir: Ava Allen, Morgan Bailey, Anna Brown, Cynthia Carroll, Avila Cyr, Guilliana Drouin, Gwen Fogarty, Lia Hebo, Helena Knight, Loretta Sanfason, Meredith Schoenherr, Miranda Payeur, Ariana Young
Chamber Singers: Ava Allen, Cynthia Carroll, Callia Curtis, Avila Cyr, Claire Davie, Ava Fagan, Keaghan Gagnon, Isaiah Goodale, Kai Hamblin, Logan Hamblin, Rebecca Horton, Ryan Kane, Evan Lynch, Jordyn Martin, Sophia Randall, Loretta Sanfason, Josiah Thoms, Jack Van Gieson
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