What would propel more than 200 musicians from Northwood High School to undergo
a competitive audition process consisting of sightreading, music theory, and a battery
of questions? If you ask the 62 choral and 38 instrumental musicians chosen, they
would tell you that it’s a coveted opportunity to participate in the Heritage Festival, a
National Music Festival event that takes place in 25 difference cities across the U.S. The
Northwood performers will be heading to San Francisco April 14th –17th, along with
competitors from all over California, as well as Nevada, Kansas and Washington.

Each performing group is judged on a National Standard with 100 points possible,
and will classified based on their score with a rating of Gold, Silver or Bronze. If a
group receives a Gold, a score of 90-100 points, they are ranked in the top 10% of
performing groups in the entire country. This status leads to an invitation to participate
in elite festivals, the Festival of Gold Series and the Carnegie Hall Series. Northwood
Instrumental Music has previously attained this level and has participated in a Festival of
Gold.

The groups can choose to compete in their classification for 1st-, 2nd- and 3rd-place
rankings. Choral groups receiving a score of 96 or higher and bands whose score exceeds
92 will receive an Adjudicator Award. The highest scoring band and the highest scoring
choir will receive the Outstanding Choral Sweepstakes and the Outstanding Band
Sweepstakes. Heritage Festival adjudicators are among the very best music educators in
the country, ensuring that the students have a superior educational experience.

Northwood’s Choral and Instrumental Music Departments, headed by Directors Zach
Halop and Ben Case, respectively, are well-reputed. In 2004, Northwood was granted
a designation as a Grammy Gold Award School, recognizing NHS as one of the top
seven secondary music programs in the country. In 2006 and again in 2007, NHS was
recognized by the Grammy Foundation with the award of the Grammy Signature School
Award, an unprecedented honor for any Irvine school.

To view the album, click here.
Photo Credits: Shazib Haq

In spirit of the holidays, here is a little gift for everyone!

Enjoy the "Christmas Can-Can" by Indiana University's original Straight No Chaser.

Did you see the new homepage design with the new Facebook feed?
We are officially on Facebook! Join us in spreading great music to our online community.

Here's how you can help:
1. Be sure to Like our facebook page below, then 2. invite any other guests that know us whether they are involved in the program or not - they may want to hear about concert details and such. Help us spread the word!

If you have anything neat that you'd like us to post on the Facebook page or if you have any suggestions, comments, or concerns, email us: mail@nhschoralboosters.org

Last night's episode: http://www.nbc.com/sing-off/video/night-1-committed/1263655/

"The Sing-Off is a five-night event premiering Monday, December 6 (8-10 p.m. ET), hosted by multi-platinum recording artist Nick Lachey. This one-of-a-kind battle of voices will continue on December 8, 13 and 15, culminating with a live finale on Monday, December 20 (8-10 p.m. ET). " - nbc.com

Read more: http://www.nbc.com/sing-off/about/

Tell us what you think. Leave comments

Hey guys! Welcome to NHS Chorus' first ever blog! :) Even chorus has gone online. Go figure. ;D
I hope you all enjoyed this past fall concert, appropriately titled "The Heart is the Compass" after the Chamber Singer's final piece, and the closing piece of the night. This was the first real concert of the year, and everyone seemed really stoked and excited for it. The event certainly was worth all the hype, as the concert was a huge success. Honestly, I think it was one of the best fall concerts I've ever seen (admittedly, I've only seen and been in three, but that's not the point). Each group seemed to have something to offer that night, so I just wanted to give a quick round of props for every group of the night.
Treble Clef: All I can say is, WOW! You guys absolutely blew me away! I have to admit, I was not expecting such a high level of performance quality from you, but I was pleasantly surprised and thoroughly enjoyed your performance. Easily your best piece was the Hebrew one (2nd one of the night). The soloists definitely set the bar high for tone quality in terms of openness, breathing on the right vowels, feeling the space behind the eyes, etc, and the whole chorus met those standards. Awesome job guys!
Bass Clef: Again, I was pleasantly surprised by you guys too! I can't imagine how difficult it is for a group of almost 100 guys to come together, focus, and make great music, but you guys pulled it off! There certainly was a lot of charisma and enthusiasm throughout your performance, especially during your first and last pieces (Bright is the Ring of Words, and My Bonnie Lass She Smileth). Great job!
Concert Chorale: I'm not going to lie. "Incantation" stretched my mind in ways you can't possibly imagine. What was brilliant about that particular piece that you performed was your confidence! And correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd like to think that the reason you were all so confident was because you knew this piece top to bottom, and you were proud of that. Or at least, that's how it came off to me. Again, a lot of enthusiasm for this piece, which was clearly evident by how into the emotions you were. Very well done!
Viva Cantar: The piece in your set that definitely made everyone's day was Three Little Maids from School! Soloists Ariana Weiss, Jenifer Sartanowicz, and Edith Jou really set and solidified the very girlish mood right from the beginning of the song and their solos. You guys all did a really good job adhering to that particular style of music and conveying the giggling girlishness of the piece. Well done!
Chamber Singers: We talked about this in class, but I think we had two major accomplishments: 1) we were able to shift emotions between pieces (going from a very bright, cheery song about the playfulness of an echo to a piece lamenting the death of a man's son is no easy feat), and 2) we were FINALLY animated for Jenga Imani Yako! Let's keep it up, guys!

Overall, this was a fantastic concert, and from the looks of it, we're off to a decent start. But remember: DON'T GET COCKY! As Mr. Halop likes to say, "That was yesterday. Yesterday is over." Take that to heart, guys. Let's make this next concert even better!

- Alyssa Matuchniak / Student Blogger