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Home > Blogs > Hamilton Schools News and Issues > Archives > 2009 > October > 23 > Entry
600 Hamilton students to perform in Secondary Choral Festival
Hamilton City Schools Secondary Choral Festival, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 27, Hamilton Freshman School Gymnasium, 2260 NW Washington Blvd., Hamilton. Free, canned good requested. (513) 887-4816.
Teaching students to sing is more than just making pretty music. It’s also good academics.
So when 600 of Hamilton Schools’ finest singers take to the stage Tuesday, Oct. 27, they’re enhancing their education as well as entertaining the audience.
“In a 2009 study commissioned by Chorus America, students who are involved in singing groups demonstrate increased social skills, increased engagement in school and increased academic success,” said Laurin Sprague, the high school’s director of fine arts. “In the Hamilton Schools, we have seen the impact on students as they come together to work as a team to sing in harmony with one another.
“Obviously, the benefits of singing for students are numerous,” he said.
The sixth Annual Secondary Choral Festival will feature students from all four secondary schools including the Garfield Middle School 8th Grade Concert Choir, under the direction of Kristin Anderson, the Wilson Middle School 8th Grade Chorale under the direction of David Anderson; Cutting Edge Showchoir under the direction of Kristin and David Anderson, Fascinating Showchoir under the direction of Melynda Caswell; and the Hamilton Freshman Voices, Hamilton High School Concert Chorale and Rhapsody in Blue Show Choir under the direction of Christina Fox.
Musical selections run the gamut from classical music from Handel to “Chicago” by contemporary singer/songwriter Sufjan Stevens, with a little bit of classic rock — a Journey medley — thrown in.
For the show choirs, this is also a first opportunity to present the programs they will perform in competitions throughout the school year.
“The arts should be for the arts’ sake, but we figure if we take all this time to work up a show, we should take it out and see how we compare to other schools,” said Kristen Anderson, who co-directs Cutting Edge, a choir made up of middle school students.
“The reason we compete is that it motivates the kids for a level of excellence they may not have otherwise,” she said. “We consider it a sport and treat it like a sport, plus it’s a format where we can pick music that we can have some fun with and put some dance moves to.”
“I am very proud of our choral music program,” Sprague said. “When people see our students singing and moving, you know that it brings them great satisfaction.” At the end of the evening, after each of the choirs have performed, all of the students join to sing one piece together, Sprague said.
“It is very impressive and moving when so many students sing at once,” he said.
Hamilton High School’s Rhapsody in Blue Show Choir rehearse “Chicago” by Sufjan Stevens
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