Chichester High Choral Group Has School Spirit

The Chichester high school Choral group were recognized for the participation in the Heritage Festival at the May 17^th Chichester School District Board Meeting.

 On April 17^th, the fifty-five member Choral group boarded a bus bound for Annapolis, Maryland to partake in the Heritage Festival,  which refers to one of the various band and choir festival s that take place in the country.

“We got up bright and early on a Saturday morning to board a bus at school at 6:45 AM,” stated chorus member Stephanie Kelly, who is a senior at Chichester high school. “the whole trip was a lot of fun and we got to see a lot of the sights in Annapolis.”

Also, on hand to represent the Chichester choral group at the meeting were juniors Rich Tutak and Katie Van Newkirk.

 Throughout the year, The Heritage Festival organization holds several festivals at different locations through out America, such as New York City and Cleveland, Ohio.

Highschools throughout the U.S. are invited to register and participate in the festival of their choice, where they can compete against other high schools for gold, silver, and bronze placements.

Also, at the festivals student choral and band groups are invited to perform in front of adjudicators or judges, to be critiqued on their performance, as well as awarded points.

The festival also offers ‘mini-clinics’, which occur after a performance, during which judges can give immediate feedback and direction on improvement, while the performance is still fresh in the students’ minds.

“The choral group has been in different competitions over time, but it was apparent at this particular competition we were competing with the big dogs,” stated school board member Paul Amand. “We received good feedback and I am very proud of the choral group’s performance.”

During their performance, the group performed three songs including “Jesus Spread My Love Around and “No Mirrors in my Nana’s House.”

The Chichester choral group placed bronze for their performance and was awarded a plaque at an awards ceremony held at the Medieval Times Restaurant in Baltimore, Maryland.

“I just want to say these three young people are very involved in a variety of groups at school,” stated Chichester high school president Nancy Alexander. “That shows a lot of school spirit.”

Spirit is something the Chichester choral group undoubtedly possesses. The group also is involved with such philanthropic programs as VH1’s Save the Music Foundation, which aims to raise awareness of the importance of music and art programs in schools.

“We held an ‘open mike’ night where anyone could come out and sing or perform music,” explained Tatuk. “We paired up with Garnet Valley high school and had over 39 acts. We haven’t totaled up all the proceeds but all of it is going to the Save the Music Foundation.”

The group also recently held a concert in conjunction with the Elam United Methodist Church in Glen Mills. The concert raised money for the James Riley Family Fund. The fund benefits the Riley family, who had their Upper Chichester home devastated by fire back in March, leaving the family of three homeless.

“It’s great to see these students reach out and help others,” stated school board president Howard Adams.  “You’ve done a great job all year long and we are very proud of you.”