By Ava Sammons, Arte Reed and Quinn Masek
The Iowa show choir scene in 2024 was anything but ordinary - typical for one of the biggest circuits in the Midwest. Between a remarkably disastrous weather weekend, historic moments for up-and-coming choirs, and surprising head-to-head competition results, show choir fanatics across the state truly never knew what to expect. As the community heads into another exuberant season, the question stands: what buzzworthy events will happen in 2025?
Some of last season’s events may foreshadow what can be expected out of this year, while others were just a fluke or a one-off occurrence. Dozens of Iowa choirs had the start of their seasons delayed after a historic Midwest blizzard cancelled almost every competition within the region on Jan. 13, including all three competitions within Iowa borders. The state’s top choir (Linn-Mar) saw another entirely undefeated season, their third consecutive of such. Another group (Indianola) achieved not only their first Grand Championship in program history, but took the top spot twice in 2024. There were many instances of competition results that went different than expected; they could be considered upsets or simply the effects of the subjective nature of show choir. A notable instance was when Urbandale Studio came out on top over Waukee Northwest Eos, which was Studio’s only Grand Championship of the season. Many agree that Eos is a top-three show choir in the state, whereas some believe that Studio’s traditional style earned them the win.
Iowa’s show choirs saw a quiet off-season, with only one group appearing on a national stage. Cedar Rapids Kennedy attended Show Choir Nationals in Nashville at the end of March, where they placed sixth overall to complete their season. In June, Ankeny Visual Adrenaline was invited to perform as a featured show choir at Show Choir Camps of America in Decatur, Illinois. VA was the first group from Iowa to receive this invitation in the camp's 30-plus year history.
That was a lot. What does this mean for the season ahead?
Every caliber of group is gearing up for yet another unpredictable season. Linn-Mar will travel to their first out-of-state regional competition since 2023; many question if the pristine groups at Chesterton in Indiana will put an end to their Grand Champion reign. Last year’s top scoring groups, Ankeny, Davenport Central, and Johnston, are hoping to continue grabbing trophies left and right. Urbandale, Waukee Northwest, and Ankeny Centennial are all potent Des Moines-area groups that are seeking a more successful season than their last. All three groups ended 2024 with just one Grand Championship, placing second at every other competition; there’s no doubt that they each have something to prove this season.
There’s absolutely no way to count out what Iowa’s smaller schools and prep groups are doing. Linn-Mar In Step, Ankeny Perpetual Motion, and Johnston Synergy continue to raise the bar in the prep division each year and will undoubtedly be regular competitors in finals this season. Des Moines Christian gained lots of momentum last season and is slated to have another successful season in the 2A world, routinely beating 3A and 4A choirs. Pella has been one of Iowa’s renowned 3A groups for years and 2025 is sure to be no different. Benton Community and Fort Madison are other strong contenders for Iowa’s small school scene.
For one reason or another, many schools have switched up their competition date. Benton moved their competition from mid-February to mid-January, now sharing a weekend with Waukee and Linn-Mar. Ankeny Centennial moved the Mid-Iowa Show Choir Championships from the first weekend of the year to February 1 and is now including a middle school competition on Friday night. Cedar Rapids Jefferson’s invitational is taking place a weekend earlier, and Liberty Storm the Stage moved from mid-February to March 1st for this season.
Let’s take a look at what to know as we head into the 2025 season:
What’s Changed
Waukee's choirs did a switcheroo of directors. Tony Dam, previous director of Spirit, will be directing Millennium. Jeff Knutson, previous director of Millennium, will be directing Spirit.
Alongside Tori Brindis, Stephen Todd is now choreographing Johnston Synergy and replaced Kevin Chase.
Lexi Robson Buglewicz replaced Damon Brown at Cedar Rapids Kennedy Happiness Inc.. Randy Sage continues to be their second choreographer.
Glenwood Fast Lane has gone through another director change and now has Megan McGuigan. Their previous director, Sam Klemme, has moved to Nebraska and joined the Lincoln East choral department.
Teale Burford is now directing Muscatine River City Rhythm.
Who’s on the rise?
Myles Finn became Indianola Side One’s director in 2024. He brought them their first two Grand Championships in program history during their 2024 season. Additionally, they never placed below third during their entire season. Their competition schedule for 2025 is similar to 2024, so seeing similar results would not be a surprise.
Captions, captions, captions! The 2024 season for Iowa City 4th Avenue Jazz Company showcased plenty of captions. They started the season off strong with a grand championship at Anamosa and gained four captions awards there as well. While they placed fifth at Waukee Northwest, they stole the Best Band caption from higher-placing teams. They closed their season with another grand championship at Benton and took home two more captions. Historically, they had a better year in 2024 and will continue that uprising slope as they head into 2025.
Showing the prep groups some love, Waukee Spirit has been improving since 2022. Under the direction of Tony Dam, they were able to make finals three times during the 2024 season. This trend may sway during 2025, as Dam and Jeff Knutson swap choirs for the 2025 season. Knutson, however, led Millennium to an excellent season in 2024, which means he could do the same for Spirit in 2025.
Des Moines Christian Light Inc. is pretty much the king of 2A show choir and had an excellent season last year. Jeff Johannsen took the reins of the program and showcased that they were a threat to not just other 2A groups, but plenty of 3A and 4A ensembles as well. They took home captions at each competition they went to and took home two grand championships in a row. If they keep up the momentum, they will have another successful year in 2025.
Who has something to prove?
This season, Johnston Innovation and Waukee Northwest Eos will face each other for the first time on two occasions. Many argue that Johnston performs at the highest level of traditional show choir in Iowa, and has for a long time. On the flip side, Waukee Northwest specializes in theatrical show choir and has excelled in it since their school opened in 2022. As the debate between traditional and theatrical shows persists in the show choir world, fans will be eagerly anticipating to see who comes out on top. Eos seems to have fallen just short of first place several times in recent years despite their high-quality vocals and top-notch artistry, so it will be interesting to see them face a new competitor of their own caliber. It’s entirely possible that we see a different group rise above at both competitions; the two will see each other at Linn-Mar on January 18 and again on February 15 at Urbandale.
Iowa’s only varsity-level womens choir, Ankeny Centennial Vortex, will compete in their first national competition at the end of March. Vortex, along with their mixed varsity ensemble Spectrum, will compete at Heart of America in Orlando, Florida to cap off their 2025 season. Here, they will have the opportunity to compete against other advanced womens groups, something they don’t get the chance to do often in Iowa. Since Vortex had their inaugural season in 2024, they will have their first chance to take the nationals stage since Ankeny Centennial’s program travels nationally every other year. They will be the first womens group from Iowa to appear in a national competition, so all eyes will be on them this season as they gear up to hopefully make a name for themselves.
What competitions are looking good?
Jan. 18: Linn-Mar Supernova and Waukee Starstruck both have a stacked lineup for week two of Iowa’s competition season. Linn-Mar will be an early season face-off for many strong groups from the Cedar Rapids area, with Waukee Northwest and Johnston making the trip east to shake things up as they face each other for the first time. Waukee Starstruck is, per usual, chock full of central Iowa’s best groups. After snow cancelled their competition last year, everyone will be anticipating this lineup. All eyes will be on Urbandale Studio as they compete to continue their three year win-streak at Starstruck.
Jan. 25 - Johnston Showzam will be a smaller competition than the previous weekend’s, but highly competitive nonetheless. Linn-Mar, Waukee Northwest, Urbandale, Dowling, and Norwalk round-off the 4A division. With only five 4A groups, the question is who will take the sixth finals spot: 3A contender North Polk Nexus or one of the many high-level prep groups?
Feb. 1- Anamosa Sadie Street Showcase brings together 3A and smaller 4A groups from across the state to give one a chance to come out on top. A lineup including Pella, Dallas Center-Grimes, and Cedar Rapids Xavier, among others, puts the spotlight on some of Iowa’s smaller programs.
Feb. 15 - Urbandale and Davenport Central both seem to be Iowa’s big “traveler” competitions of the season. Broken Arrow (Oklahoma), Millard West (Nebraska), and Mitchell (South Dakota) will all make the trip to central Iowa to shake up the familiar head-to-head competition from Waukee, Waukee Northwest, and Johnston. Davenport Central’s lineup is equally as diverse, with Ankeny and Southeast Polk making the trip east, Mundelein and Glenwood traveling from Illinois, and even Preble making the trek from Wisconsin. Combined with local(ish) groups Prairie, Xavier, and Davenport North, anyone's finals prediction is good at this point.
Mar. 1- Liberty Storm the Stage and the Southeast Polk RAM Showcase both have small but mighty schedules as Iowa’s regional season begins to wind down. Liberty’s five 4A groups include mostly eastern Iowa locals; Bettendorf, Cedar Rapids Washington, Prairie, Linn-Mar, and Waukee will all compete in their last regional competition of the year. At Southeast Polk, there a rematch of Ankeny vs. Ankeny Centennial from 2023, while Johnston competes to defend their three-year Grand Championship streak.
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