Callie Boone, Savannah Kittrell and Emily Strother represented Academy Heights. Alex Beck, Alyssa Fish and Kaitlyn Wagner represented Sandhills Farm Life.
Both groups of local students were selected from a statewide group of more than 450 students who auditioned in Winston-Salem on the weekend of Nov. 13. The final chorus was made up of 190 students.
Dr. Angela Broeker, director of choral activities and associate professor of music at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, was guest conductor for the weekend. She has guest conducted in more than 25 states for meetings of the Music Educators’ National Conference, the American Choral Directors’ Association and the American Orff-Schulwerk Association among others.
The wide variety of music learned and performed by the students included selections from a number of different composers and styles.
Among the pieces performed were Thomas Morley’s “Now is the Month of Maying,” M.A. Carpenter’s “Ave Regina Coelorum,” the maritime song “Aweigh, Santy Ano,” Aaron Copeland’s “Bought Me a Cat,” and the spiritual “Jordan’s Angels” by Rollo Dilworth (last year’s guest conductor). The program was accompanied by Dr. Joanne Inkman, who serves on the faculty at Wake Forest University and the North Carolina School of the Arts.
The Academy Heights chorus is conducted by Lydia Gill. It is the second time Boone and Kittrell have been named to the state chorus.
“We are so proud of our students, especially Callie and Savannah, for being selected for a second year,” Gill said. “That is indeed a rare honor. It’s truly a pleasure to work with such talented young people.”
The Sandhills Farm Life chorus is directed by Kimberly Hilliard.
“This has been an exciting year for our honors chorus students,” Hilliard said. “We are so proud of them for their hard work and we look forward to participating again next year.”
