Both Carlsbad High School Show Choirs Hit the High Notes at Same Competition!

Encore, Carlsbad High School’s women’s intermediate choir, and Sound Express, the school’s advanced mixed show choir, both brought home trophies from the “2014 Hart High School Show Choir Competition” in Newhall, CA, on March 8, 2014.  Despite L.A. traffic that caused the band to be late and the drummer to miss the Encore set, Encore earned a prestigious 2nd Place among the five choirs competing in their division!  Sound Express secured their much-deserved inaugural win of the season as they competed alongside six southland choirs, and earned 3rd Place!

In his first year as Carlsbad High School’s choral director, Mr. Jessie Bullock has worked extremely hard to highlight the best in his students, and they gave it their all on Saturday. The judges scored each show choir on their ability to master two main categories: Musicianship (vocal tone, intonation, diction, interpretation, dynamics) and Showmanship (creativity, execution, difficulty, precision, visual effect).  Encore’s set, choreographed by Damon Brown, Carrie Smith, and John Marlow, is a 17-minute musical based on the film “Mean Girls” and explores the theme of bullying, hiding behind the mask of “groups,” and the victory of discovering one’s true identity.  Sound Express's set, choreographed by the same group plus Kyle Campbell and Christina Campbell, is a 17-minute set loosely based on the story of Robin Hood.  It explores conflicts in the caste system and celebrates the strength of the underdog.  Each musical story engages the audience with contemporary songs, dynamic costumes, and creative moves, which the students rehearse and perfect continually between competitions.   

Show choir season runs through mid-April, with the grand finale “SoCal Competition” at San Diego’s own Golden Hall on Friday, April 18th.  Following that, all four CHS choirs will be focused on their spring POPS performance, open to the public at the Carlsbad Cultural Arts Center May 29-30.  Tickets will be available at the box office.

Carlsbad High School’s new choral director, Jessie Bullock, or “Mr. B” to students, brings a wealth of experience, energy and enthusiasm to the CHS choral family. His background includes two years at Burbank High School – a well-known show choir school that inspired the TV series “Glee,” and three years implementing a brand new program from the ground up at Ontario High School. Mr. Bullock directs all four choirs at Carlsbad High School: Sound Express (advanced mixed show choir), Encore (intermediate women’s show choir), Chamber Singers (advanced mixed choir), and Lancer Choir (beginning mixed choir). Carlsbad High School’s choral program is one of the few remaining programs in all of San Diego County and strives to promote awareness, appreciation, and expression of the arts in the community.  For more information about our program or for donation opportunities, please visit www.chschoral.com.

The Carlsbad Choral Boosters is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (tax ID 30-0208051)