Comps of the Week Recap: 4/5/25

By William Soquet, Editor-in-Chief

The California Big Three transitive circle is completed for the season, an American group wins the Canadian championship, and groups from Texas and Massachusetts win for the first time.

John Burroughs Music Showcase Results

Advanced Mixed 1: 1st) Burbank “In Sync” (Music) 2nd) Los Alamitos “Sound FX” (Show) 3rd) American Leadership Academy “Evolution”

Advanced Mixed 2: 1st) Cypress “High Voltage” (Music) 2nd) Boulder Creek “Broadway Bound” 3rd) Valley Vista “Vocal Thunder” (Show) 4th) Chaparral “Platinum FX”

Burbank was due for one, and they made it happen at the end of the season. Burroughs featured the same caption split as Oceanside on March 29, just swapped placements. Burbank ends the season with two wins and a complete streak of musicianship awards. This was In Sync’s first triumph over Sound FX since this same competition in 2022. Los Al, for its part, also ends the season with two wins and a pair of seconds, losing only to Carmel and Burbank. They were arguably the most visible choir in the country during their three-week stretch run of Nationals, Oceanside, and Burroughs. In the second division, Cypress continued its late-season hot streak, following up an impressive second at Oceanside with a division win here. This was High Voltage’s first division win of any kind since beating John A. Rowland and Golden Valley to win intermediate at Brea Olinda in 2023. Boulder Creek got the better of fellow Arizona choir Valley Vista. Vocal Thunder had a bit of an odd season, placing second overall at Boulder Creek before placing fourth and third in division out in California.

Rouse Capital City Classic Results

1st: Timber Creek “Aerodynamix” (BV)

2nd: Fort Worth Southwest “Southwest Effect” (BC)

3rd: Hebron “Harmony!”

A year after placing fourth in prelims and battling back to third in finals, Timber Creek Aerodynamix busted down the door and claimed the first win in program history. It was truly a crowning moment for ADX, who was one of the original players in the Texas scene in the mid-2010s and missed finals at its most recent competition. It wasn’t a sweep, but the result is certainly enough to put the rest of the state on notice heading into next season. Southwest Effect ends this season as the perpetual bridesmaid, tallying a trio of runner-up finishes and a pair of Best Choreography captions but no wins. Despite that, 2025 has been the most consistently good the outfit has ever been. Southwest Effect was in its infancy before the pandemic, and has been steadily gaining momentum in the four seasons since. Hebron made the most of its once-yearly appearance, locking out all the local Austin-area choirs from the top three. The group has potential to make some serious noise if they choose to compete in more Dallas-area competitions in the future.

Show Choir Canada Championships Results

Overall Grand Champion: Music Academy of Western New York “ROAR”

Community Groups: 1st) Music Academy of Western New York “SHOUT”

High School Large Group: St. George’s “G Major”

High School Small Group: 1st) Our Lady of Lourdes “The Pitches”, Pickering “Euphonix”

Middle School: 1st) Music Academy of Western New York “ROAR” 2nd) All Saints “Flair” 3rd) FAME School of Performing Arts “Fame”

The results of this one is a double-whammy – not only did an American group take the title here, but it was also a middle school group taking the overall event win over a handful of high school groups. Shades of Lake Forest, anyone? The middle school division wound up being the deepest one at this competition, with Roar improving a spot over a previous placement at Andover this season. The rest of the results sheet is fairly well partitioned, with the only high school competition occurring in the high school small group division. Our Lady of Lourdes did not participate in 2024 but came storming back this season, claiming its first division win since 2017.

Waltham Eastern Show Choir Festival Results

Large Mixed: 1st) Lowell “Sound Impressions” (BV) 2nd) Manteno “Magic” (BC) 3rd) Tantasqua “ENCORE!”

Small Mixed: 1st) Natick “West Street Singers” (BV/BC) 2nd) Oliver Ames “Panache” 3rd) Shepherd Hill “Fantasy”

Womens: 1st) Shepherd Hill “Illusion” 2nd) Lowell “Soundsations”

Some groups are a bit rough around the edges in their first year under both a new director and a new choreographer. That was absolutely not the case for Lowell Sound Impressions this year, as they closed their first season under the leadership of Evan Caverly and Stephen Todd with the group’s first-ever win as a large group and first overall competition win. While the top two groups were fairly evenly matched in choreography, Lowell’s vocals carried them to the win. Manteno still gave the Midwest a strong result, notching its first Best Choreography caption since Watseka in 2023 and coming home with its best result of the season. In small mixed, Natick took home yet another commanding win. The group is teetering right on the edge of large mixed membership, and it would not be a shock to see West Street Singers graduate to the large mixed division next season. Oliver Ames came out of nowhere to claim a runner-up finish, their highest placement since 2017. Shepherd Hill capped off its first season in small mixed with a third, solidly putting themselves among the region’s top contenders in that division.

One last multi-competition weekend awaits the 2025 show choir season, with choirs battling it out in Oklahoma, Missouri, and North Carolina. Comps of the Week will have all you need to know about those competitions!