This weekend is the last weekend of the season that three or more competitions are going on. Get all of the action from California, Colorado and North Carolina!
Colorado West Invitational Music Performance Festival
The Lineup (all groups from Colorado)
Mixed Tier I: Fruita Monument “Mountain Melodies”, Grand Junction Central “Sound Sensations”
Mixed Tier II: Palisade “Popular Acclaim!”
Mixed Tier III: Gunnison “Show Choir”
Middle School: Columbine “Show Choir”
The Colorado West Invitational Music Performance Festival is a long-running district show choir festival that includes a show choir division. Most schools in attendance are from in or around the Mesa County Valley School District on the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains. Fruita Monument and Grand Junction Central are longtime rivals in this contest. Mountain Melodies won the 2022 edition, while Sound Sensations took the 2018 and 2019 contest wins.
North Carolina State Show Choir Festival
The Lineup (all groups from North Carolina)
High School: Hough “Howlin’ Huskies”, Lake Norman “Showformance”, Red Springs “Show Choir”, South Granville “Chord on Blues”, South Granville “Shades of Blue”, Voyager “Bull City Lights”
Middle School: Hanes “Dragon Scales”, Jay Robinson “Encore Singers”, Mt. Airy “Show Choir”, Seventy-First “Show Choir”, Western Harnett “Show Choir”
North Carolina, about a decade ago, had a robust regional series of events that saw the top groups from each event transfer to the state contest. Declining interest combined with a pandemic has eliminated the regional setup and has also brought the state event from a two-day affair down to a single day. A move from the third weekend of March to the third weekend of April has yielded a field that is even in the amount of middle school choirs attending and one ahead of last year in the number of high school choirs attending. Voyager has won the last two competitive editions of state, but former director Nicole Whitby has moved to Clover Hill and the competition slate has been cut back for the group this year. On Voyager’s heels are Hough, who won state in 2018 and was the top non-Voyager group last year. Lake Norman was second in 2018, can they recapture some of the magic? Jenny Hobgood, who built Voyager into the program it is, is not at South Granville, so noise from either of those groups cannot be counted out either.
Oceanside Sound-Off!
The Lineup (all groups from California unless noted)
Advanced Mixed I: Burbank “In Sync”, John Burroughs “Powerhouse”, Los Alamitos “Sound FX”
Advanced Mixed II: Bonita Vista “The Music Machine”, Helix “HLX”
Intermediate Mixed: Carlsbad “Sound Express”, Chula Vista “Main Attraction”, John Burroughs “Sound Waves”, Los Alamitos “Connexion”, Valley Vista “Vocal Thunder” (AZ)
Novice Mixed I: Eisenhower “Ike Singers”, Valley Vista “Ignition” (AZ), Willow Canyon “Evolution” (AZ)
Novice Mixed II: Carlsbad “Purple Reign”, Otay Ranch “Full Effect”, Shadow Ridge “Stellar FX” (AZ)
Advanced Womens: Burbank “Impressions”, John Burroughs “Sound Sensations”, Los Alamitos “Soundtrax”
Intermediate Womens: Bonita Vista “Sound Unlimited”, Helix “HD”, John Burroughs “Decibelles”, Los Alamitos “Xquisite”
Novice Womens: Eisenhower “Ikettes”, Los Alamitos “Axcent”, Valley Vista “Avalon” (AZ), Willow Canyon “Willow Wisps” (AZ)
Mens: Helix “TBH”, John Burroughs “Men@Work”, Los Alamitos “Xtreme”
Advanced Middle School: Lakeside “Aptitude”, Oak “ShowCase”, Temecula Valley “Roaring Harmony”
Intermediate Middle School: Bernardo Heights “Show Choir”, Calavera Hills “Sound Sensations”, Jefferson “Falcon Singers”, Valley “Showstoppers”
Middle School Girls: Lakeside “Adrenaline”
The California Big Three usually find their way all to the same place once a year, and this year it is at Oceanside. Burbank has not faced either Burroughs or Los Al yet this year, while the latter two have faced off twice so far this year. Sound FX has come out on top both times, but Powerhouse is close in pursuit and only lost on a time penalty at Hart. Intermediate mixed is another division that stands out from the rest. The second-tier groups from Burroughs and Los Al face off against Carlsbad and Chula Vista, who both used to be small advanced groups. Valley Vista swept intermediate mixed in its only appearance this year at Hart, adding another dimension to the division. In that same vein, Arizona is well-represented at this competition, with Valley Vista, Shadow Ridge and Willow Canyon all attending. Other divisions to watch include advanced womens, which is another Big Three showdown, and the mens division, where Men@Work is trying to pull off an undefeated season. In the middle school area, Temecula Valley is looking to go undefeated in division this year, although they did drop down to intermediate once earlier this season.
Come back next week to see who takes the titles!
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