This past Saturday, April 9th, the CLHS Concert Choir traveled to Midway High School in Waco to perform and compete at the TAPPS State Vocal Music Championships. CLHS had choirs entered in 2 different categories – Sacred Ensembles and Large Ensembles. Sacred Ensembles have 24 or fewer members, while Large Ensembles are 8 or larger. The difference in performance requirements between the two is that Sacred Ensembles perform 2 sacred pieces while the Large Ensembles perform 3 pieces (2 must be from the UIL Prescribed Music List). Large Ensembles also have the option to do a sight-reading portion to earn more points towards the final tally.
Concordia’s two sacred ensembles – Chamber Choir and Sacred 2 – ended up earning a “Division 1 – Superior” rating from all 3 of the judges. Concordia’s 3 large ensembles – Men’s Chorus, Women’s Chorale, and Concert Choir – also earned a “Division 1 – Superior” rating from all 3 judges. These 3 ensembles also participated in the sight-reading portion of the contest, and all 3 earned a “Division 1 – Superior” rating for their sight-reading. Earning the “Superior” rating for both performance and sight-reading also gave the 3 large ensembles the “Sweepstakes” award! These ratings combined with the results from the TAPPS State Solo Competition on March 21st to equal the totals that would determine the overall vocal state champion.
When all the results were finalized, Concordia finished as the 2022 TAPPS 6A State Vocal Music Champion! CLHS tallied 979 total points, Midland Christian was 2nd with 473 points, and Liberty Christian rounded out the top 3 with 170 points. This also means that the CLHS Concert Choir is back-to-back State Champions!
The choirs were performing college-level music at a very high level throughout the competition, with one judge commenting “Are you sure you aren’t a college choir??”. These young men and women have put in a lot of work inside and outside of school to get to this level and we could not be prouder of this wonderful achievement. This state championship is Concordia’s 6th in the last 10 years, with 3 of those years being state runner-up and the other year being canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020).
On Sunday, April 10th, the choir was blessed to be able to sing for the Palm Sunday service at Immanuel Lutheran Ministries in Temple, TX. Following the service the choir traveled to Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington to enjoy a day at the park in celebration of their championship. It was a weekend full of amazing memories and performances, and it was so good to be back doing the competition in-person for the first time since 2019. Congratulations, CLHS Concert Choir, on your state championship!
To close, as the choir always does after our performances, with words from the Doxology - Praise God from Whom ALL Blessings Flow!
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For more information about Choir at Concordia, or to listen to some performance recordings, visit the Choir Home Page at www.sadernationtx.com/choir