Choral program marking great season

CONTRIBUTED REPORT

Both Powhatan High School show choirs, Radiance (univoice) and Resonance (mixed), have been racking up an award-winning competition season.

The choirs performed and competed in Clover Hill High School’s Mid-Atlantic Show Choir Spectacular Saturday, Feb. 18. Directed by Terrell Dean and backed by the Rev’d Up band and Renegades stage crew, both choirs shone under the lights in their first competition of the season.

A total of 16 groups competed, including regional schools as well as Hamilton High School in Hamilton, Ohio, and Martinsburg High School in Martinsburg, West Virginia. The women of Radiance competed in the Tier II Women’s division and brought home a first place win, finishing ahead of “Anything Goes” from James River High School and “Vocal Elegance” from Hamilton High School, in their division and an eighth place finish overall. The men and women of Resonance competed in the Tier II Mixed Division, finishing in second place behind “Good Times” from Martinsburg High School in their division and sixth place overall.

Showmanship awards were presented to Emma Stigall for Radiance and Aaron Hixon and April Milburn for Resonance.

Both groups’ concert choir divisions competed along with One Voice at the Commonwealth Choral Invitational on Thursday, Feb. 23 at Thomas Dale High School. All groups brought home awards from CCI. Resonance “Unplugged” competed in the A’cappella division and finished in first place. Sophomore Haydon Hall also won Best Male Soloist in the A’ cappella division. Both Radiance and One Voice competed in the Concert Choir division with One Voice finishing in second place and Radiance finishing in third place.

The awards keep stacking up!

The buses were loaded by 5 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 25, as Radiance and Resonance Show Choirs took to the road to travel five+ hours to Charleston, West Virginia, to compete in Sissonville High School’s inaugural Touch of Class Classic. It was a long day with a full slate of 13 univoice and mixed show choirs with everyone in an Open Division (all groups compete against each other, no matter gender or size) with a lot of incredibly-talented performers. PCSP is proud to say that both Resonance and Radiance rocked it out, and at the end of prelims, Resonance had earned a spot in the finals, earning fourth runner up overall against some formidable opponents.

Again, several choral students received Showmanship Awards: Milo Cook and Shannon Johnson for Radiance and Nia Sanders and Caleb Skeens for Resonance. The program would also like to send a huge shout-out to the parent chaperones and stage crew who took time out of their personal schedules on this 24-hour journey, but most-especially to Billy Goodrich for trailering all of the props and electronics safely to and from the event (making the 10-hour round-trip drive on his own) and leading the stage crew. When we say it takes a village, it truly does.

It was another successful couple of days for the PHS choral students earlier this month. Manchester High School launched its annual Koste Classic on Thursday, March 2, with Day 1 featuring standalone choirs. Swoon-worthy performances by Resonance Unplugged and One Voice earned more awards for these amazing students. Resonance Unplugged walked away with first place in the A’cappella division while One Voice earned second place in the Concert Choir division. The Resonance Show Choir made the trip to Manchester on Day 3, March 4 for the mixed show choir competition and battled it out against a slate of new competitors for the season. Resonance put on their best overall performance of the season thus far. Their talent shown as they finished the night with a third place overall award, Best Costumes Award, Showmanship Awards for Delaine Healy and James Elam, and a Best-Dressed Director Award for Dean. The Powhatan Diamond Classic will be held March 23 to 25 at the high school. The choral program is looking for sponsors and volunteers. Visit https:// www.powhatanchoirs.com/ the-classic.