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Community Corner

Carlsbad High School Choir Wins First Place for the Third Year in a Row at SoCal Show Choir Invitational

A first place "three-peat" for Carlsbad High School Choir! The cream of the show choir crop traveled to Golden Hall in San Diego on April 18, 2014, to compete in the culmination of the competition season: The 20th Annual Southern California Show Choir Invitational. Encore, Carlsbad High School’s intermediate women’s choir won first place against Eastlake, Cypress, and John Burroughs High Schools. This was Encore’s third 1st place win this season and their third year in a row winning 1st place at So Cal. Top ranked Burroughs High School has beaten CHS Encore twice this season but the ladies of Encore brought everything they had to the stage at So Cal. Encore’s teamwork and determination coupled with their stage presence earned them the division win. The judges score each team on two main categories: musicianship (vocal tone, intonation, diction, interpretation, dynamics) and showmanship (creativity, execution, difficulty, precision, visual effect). Encore performed a 17-minute musical based on the movie “Mean Girls.” The set explores the challenges of finding one’s place among the different groups in high schools, including jocks, cheerleaders, Goths and “nerds.”  Damon Brown, Carrie Smith and John Marlow choreographed the set. 

Sound Express, Carlsbad High School’s advanced show choir, featuring both male and female performers, competed against Bonita Vista, Mt. Eden, and Hart High Schools. The competition has been extremely fierce in this division this season and Sound Express placed 4th.  Their 17-minute set is loosely based on the story of Robin Hood. It explores the conflicts in the caste system and celebrates the underdog. Damon Brown, Carrie Smith, John Marlow, Kyle Campbell, and Christina Campbell choreographed the set. 

Both choirs performed under the direction of Jessie Bullock. His goal during his first year as Carlsbad High School’s choral director is to highlight the best in his students and instill the desire to improve with each opportunity. When asked about the So Cal competition Mr. Bullock praised his students saying, “Both groups have had seasons of which to be very proud. Encore has taken 1st or 2nd in every competition they competed this year. I am extremely proud of them and of the work they have done. They have been truly dedicated to their art and their team. Sound Express has also done very well. I am very happy to have been their director and have seen them grow this year. I have learned so much from them.” 

Mr. Bullock 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 in Ontario, CA. Bullock directs all four choirs at Carlsbad High School: Sound Express, the advanced mixed show choir; Encore, the intermediate women’s show choir; Chamber Singers, the advanced mixed choir and Lancer Choir, the beginning mixed choir.

The public will have a chance to see all Carlsbad High School choirs perform at their spring POPS performance in May.  According to Mr. Bullock, “Our POPS concert is the end of the year concert. It will showcase all of the choirs here at CHS including the Chamber Singers and Lancer Choir. I have been working on some numbers for just the men to perform as well as all of the choirs together as one very large group. It's going to be a lot of fun and hard work!” CHS Spring POPS concert will be held at the Carlsbad Cultural Arts Center, May 29-31. Tickets will be available at the box office. 

Carlsbad High School’s choral program is one of the few remaining choral programs in all of San Diego County. It strives to promote awareness, appreciation, and expression of the arts in the community. The group is completely funded by donations. Anyone wishing to make a donation can do so at www.CHSChoral.com      The Carlsbad Choral Boosters is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (tax ID 30-0208051)

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