It's only the second week of comp season and already at least 4 of the attending mixed groups have a GC under their belt... This is going to be one heck of a competition!
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Hello, everyone! We're thrilled to have another fantastic lineup at the Wheaton-Warrenville South Choral Classic! Here are the competing groups:
Middle School:
Bryan "Bryan Beat"
Hinsdale "Girl Treble" and "Encore"
Coulee Montessori "9th-St. Connection"
St. Michael "Shine"
Arlington Heights "Center Stage"
Hubble "Expressions"
Single-Gender:
Crete-Monee "Faces"
Rolling Meadows "Leading Ladies"
Naperville North "High Heeled Harmony"
John Burroughs "Sound Sensations"
John Hersey "Ladies First"
Waubonsie Valley "Girls in Heels"
Mixed:
Crete-Monee "Cavaliers"
Carmel "Ambassadors"
Alan B. Shepard "Nova"
Hastings "Riverside Company"
Benton Community "Celebration, Co."
Naperville North "Entourage"
Wheaton North "Flight"
Neenah "Vintage 2016"
John Burroughs "Powerhouse"
Buffalo Grove "Expressions"
John Hersey "OnStage"
Waubonsie Valley "Sound Check"
I really wish this competition was like 1 or 2 weeks earlier in the year. Most Iowa groups wrap up their season in the 2 weeks right before so in the past there have only been a few times that groups have made the late trip. I'd really like to see some good ones travel over there for a change and bring some Iowa flair to the stage. Depending on the year and how they're doing, I think a lot of groups could be a big contender there. Hopefully some big names from here decide to take on the challenge in the next couple years.
That's an interesting perspective, Alex. I think part of the attraction of the Choral Classic, aside from their outstanding reputation, is the March date to be a culminating, season-ending, destination-type finale. If it were any earlier in the season, I think there would be less of a chance to draw the renown programs that they do due to either the busyness of February show choir and the plethora of competitions or because the West Coast doesn't really start up yet.
I think a better solution would be for more Iowa groups to extend their season.
Most Iowa groups end their season at the end of February or first week of March due to spring break, speech events, jazz band events, spring play/musicals, spring sports schedules and other activities that begin during March. For example, Muscatine has always ended their competition season the first weekend of March. Even when asking students if they would be interested in going to a competition after that weekend, we would be missing 10-15 kids. It stinks, but it's the sad reality of the matter.
Right, Adam, I certainly understand that. The topic of Iowa groups ending early and California groups starting late seem to be regular conversations on here. Spring break, musicals, state contests, etc. aren't exclusive to Iowa and some other states seem to be able to juggle all of that. Though, the popularity of show choir in Iowa is unparalleled pretty much anywhere in the U.S. so maybe that's why.
You missed a big point, Jeff, Iowa also starts their competition season 1.5-2 months before California. This year we are going to have a 3 month long competition season. (Jan 9-April 2) That is pretty long to keep your kids motivated and constantly improving.
It's easy to be like "Hey Iowa groups, compete longer." But actually getting those groups to compete that late is a much easier said than done. Our competition has historically always been the 2nd weekend of March, same as Wheaton. But, with the exception of 2011, we haven't had enough groups to make a full, competitive finals since 2006. Most Iowa groups just want to be done by the end of February, so we eventually wisened up and changed our date.
Also, when you live in a cold weather state like Iowa, telling people to not go on Spring Break so they can stay in the wintery midwest is going to get a lot of absences. I can't tell you how many times we've recruited choirs only to hear that they can't come because of Spring Break. It's one thing to go to a competition like FAME Orlando over Spring Break. Much different thing to go to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, or the Windy City!!!
To be fair, I don't know that I missed that point - I'm certainly aware of that as I'm the one usually creating and updating those event pages - I just chose not to write a novel analyzing the regional differences when it comes to the competition season.
My initial post was just a fun comment to what Alex posted about regarding the Choral Classic and the feasibility of Iowa groups attending - and I think that post was clear and made sense. This Iowa conversation is a bit different than my original post. Ultimately, if some IA groups choose to end their season by the end of February, then there's certainly nothing wrong with that. It's their reasonable decision weighing the various factors mentioned by Adam and Jay, but just to be clear there are choirs in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, etc. that also start competing in January (or November) and stretch it out through early April often times. And to give credit, a handful of IA groups already do this from time to time: ex. Prairie, CR Kennedy, Urbandale. It's not impossible, you just have to sort out your priorities.
And to bring this full circle and relate back to Alex's post: The most you can do is hope - hope that priorities, schedules, availability, etc. align so students can have some really great experiences.
Well said. This is the MAIN issue that I forgot to mention. To a lot of choir directors in Iowa, being fair to other activities and also moving on to focus on things such as large group festival for concert choirs/solo ensemble festival is a higher priority than continuing with the show choir season. Iowa has a STRONG choral tradition that dates well before the dawn of show choir... and it's safe to say it's a little bit stronger here than in states like Illinois, Ohio, Indiana, etc. A majority of directors still put the importance of their concert choirs ahead of their show choirs and would publicly state that belief.
All I remember is that when our competition season would end, the only thing I wanted was to keep doing it for three more months! I'm an advocate of both California getting their act together earlier and the Midwest not closing shop so early - 2 or 3 months of show choir a year isn't enough!
I mean, as a show choir nerd in high school, I would've agreed. Now, being more in a directing role, I can see both sides.
I do have a question though. When do choirs in California/Illinois/Indiana/Ohio start learning their competition shows? Vocals, choreography, etc. (I add Illinois because I know some of them do fall shows, even though most start competing around the same time as Iowa.)
I've heard of California groups not starting their comp shows until as late as January before. A lot of them devote all of fall and the beginning of winter to preparation for special events or holiday shows. It is kind of crazy how they can put up such astounding shows in just over a month before the first major competition in the state (Arcadia).
We typically start contest music at the very end of October and then continue to perform the fall show while we are learning contest stuff. I will say that our contest shows are typically not fully learned until right before break, or right after.
Much of my more recent firsthand knowledge comes from Burroughs as I worked with them very closely for a good number of years, and pretty much what Jared has heard is true. They do a giant "Burroughs on Broadway" show in October (which is actually their biggest fundraiser of the year) and spend essentially all of September prepping for that, including a weekend camp for all 250+ students in the vocal music department. Then they spend all of November learning classical/concert music, which they perform around the community and ultimately as part of a giant holiday concert at the school in mid-December. Of course then winter break hits, so they really aren't able to buckle down and start intensely learning show choir material until the first week of January. They have another off-campus camp for Powerhouse and Sound Sensations at this time, which lets them focus on nothing but their competition sets... it's literally rotating vocal and choreography sessions for three days straight, from sun up to sun down.
These days competitions don't even start happening out here until Mid-February, so it gives them about a month and a half to get the core of their shows done. Powerhouse in particular is one group that I think evolves massively over the run of the season, and many times I don't feel like the show is really "complete" until March and "perfected" until April. That's why I don't like it when people upload videos from our events in February; even though people might be excited to see what some of the California groups are doing, the shows are completely still in their infancy. A more casual show choir fan from another part of the country (and little to no knowledge of how the California schedule works) will be in a totally different head space after having already competed for a solid month and being in the thick of their season. They aren't very likely to be watching one of those clips thinking "okay, now I need to consider this is the first time this group has competed..."
The first competitions in California used to begin about 3 weeks earlier, but for some reason that has slipped over time. When Burbank started their event in 2008 it was in January, but it was non-competitive and most schools just sort of treated it as practice. Groups would wear their travel t-shirts onstage or only do half of their sets (partly because the shows weren't ready), and I think Mr. Carroll wanted his event to be taken more seriously - so it got switched to the middle of March. Now everything has sort of shifted in that direction.
I would guess there are plenty of California groups who start learning their shows in the fall semester, but I have also heard of some Midwest groups having summer camps for their competition set material and I don't think I am aware of any group out here getting that much of a head start. I can see why someone might be tired of a show by April if they've been doing it since the previous July or whatever. Funny enough, when I have mentioned to directors that we really should be getting started sooner, the response I get is that there is so much happening in the fall semester that it isn't really practical... and yet, that's the same reasoning you and Adam had about extending your seasons later. I am sure lots of Midwest schools have things going on from September through December (and still manage to put shows together) just as our schools have spring break, speech events, plays/musicals, sports, etc. happening in March and April and still make the time to compete. It really is just all about priorities and what system works best for each director.
Don't forget Burroughs musical is now in early February, too, and Pop Show is in March. By the time they are actually competing - even with partial competition sets - they're all veteran performers with several shows under their belts.
Ok I have one other question. Just trying to figure out the differences between the regions. How many kids in the show choirs are part of another choir in the program? Or is show choir it?
For Center Grove Sound System and Debtones, we have a week long summer bootcamp the last two weeks before school starts. We don't work on Competition Set, but we do the basics and get back in the mindset for when we do start competing in early Febuary.
This is most common with groups around here, so I notice there is a vast difference between this way of learning shows, and the way some states/programs do it. Not saying one is right or wrong, but it definitely changes the competition schedule. Iowa is not likely to extend their overall competition schedule by a month because they have been learning their show since July/August. Just as Cali/Indiana choirs are not going to be competing until February/March because they don't learn their show until December/January.
Also, I thought it was really interesting to hear how in Cali it is expected that the shows change dramatically over the course of the season. Here in Iowa, if you are not clean and singing great, with a full show, you are likely to place lower than you would expect in January. We are competing a week earlier than we ever have before, so I don't know how that will effect choirs, but historically, competitions like Linn-Mar and Muscatine come down to who is the most prepared at that time of year. If you are not prepared you may not make finals.
Sub par performances can definitely be reflected in the scoring and placing in early CA competitions. However, as the earlier comps use a more vocally focused score sheet, with fewer show elements, sing well and you can get by with a partial show.
At Burroughs, they learn both concert choir music as well as show choir material throughout the year as part of their curriculum. In fact, the formal name of the Powerhouse class is "Chamber Choir," with their more recognizable name just being the title they compete with in a show choir setting. In November and December they study lots of concert choir literature for the big holiday show they put on at the end of the year, and the focus returns to that kind of music again in April and May after show choir season is over. During those months, they compete solely as a concert choir. The final performance of the year for the entire music department is purely classical/concert choir music in the first half, with the show choir competition sets being performed in the second. To that end, no, they don't have a separate choir that only performs concert music. To my knowledge, that's the case for most of the schools with large show choir programs in California. Los Al, for example, now has a whopping 6 competitive show choirs of ranging skill levels comprised of hundreds of students. They are all classes which are part of the school day (with the possible exception of the all-male show choir), which doesn't allow much room for a group that only sings the traditional type stuff. I am sure there are schools with strong concert choir-only programs in California... they just aren't the ones which focus on show choir and I don't interact with them on a regular basis.
Powerhouse performing as chamber choir in the show choir offseason.
Also, it should be noted that in California you are essentially "banned" from being a member of two different competing show choirs, as they want the playing field to be as level as possible. If students from one school's advanced women's group competed against students from another school's intermediate women's group, it wouldn't be a very fair match. Essentially, it would be like putting varsity students on your JV baseball team. Our divisions are separated purely by skill level (as opposed to choir size or school size), which is entirely how I think it should be. One school's best choir program might be a "novice" level group, so to force them against a group like Powerhouse or In Sync or Sound FX would be downright silly.
The one exception to this rule is that members of all-male show choirs can come from anywhere, as there just wouldn't be numbers to support those choirs if that wasn't allowed (and there is only one division for those groups).
It seems a big difference between many programs is whether or not the show choir is part of the curricular school day, or an extra-curricular activity outside of the school day. Most of the show choirs in Minnesota, (and I believe Iowa, as well) are extra-curricular, and the students are typically expected to participate in a curricular concert choir in addition to show choir.
At Waconia, our Activities office treats us as a "winter sport" and we are not allowed to begin learning any part of our show until Mid-October.
And I hate to be this person, buuut.....maybe we should move this discussion to another forum and talk more about the WWS comp??
Totally off-topic, but it has made for some great discussion - and given that it's December, I'm glad people are engaged and sharing.
Back to Wheaton, I know of more than one surprise group that will be attending - I think a few of the local competitions are going to be as interesting to watch as the big national events this year.
Wheaton Warrenville South Choral Classic 2016
