WASHINGTON TWP. - Ten West Morris Central High School students have been accepted into The American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) All-Eastern Honor Choirs, as announced Monday, Oct. 30. The students earned their places between two Honors Choirs the Treble Chorus, which contains only females and the Mixed Chorus. The 10 singers will spend four days in Providence, R.I., in preparation for a gala concert in March. They will also be treated to a private concert with the world-renowned choral group, Voces8. Accepted into the Treble Chorus are Diya Bajaj, Sophia Passaro, Violet Klapal, and Maya Janssen. Accepted into the Mixed Chorus are Elisa Castro, Mikayla Kelly, Ally Dilling, Anabelle Ortiz, Nico Sloan and Mikey Vespignani. “To me, this is huge,’’ said West Morris Central Choir Director Mark Stingle. “It’s the second biggest thing we do. Two years ago we got one student into all-national choir, which is the entire country. It is a completely different audition process. Anybody can audition as long as you are part of the school’s choral program.”
The High School All-Eastern Honor Choir is open to singers in grades 10, 11 or 12. Students from across the East Coast submit audio recordings that test their technical ability as well as their musicianship. The American Choral Directors Association holds six regional conferences a year: east, midwest, northwest, south, southwest and west. There was no ACDA National Choir competition this year. The students also apply to make statewide honors choirs. “Obviously, it’s a lot harder to get into these than getting into local area honors choirs,’’ Stingle said. “This year was unprecedented. We’ve never had this many. The most I’ve had before this was three and that was three years ago. It’s something we do every year now but we had not been doing that before.’’ Stingle said that everybody in the region submits the same recordings. They sing two sets of scales as well as a piece that is selected by the national organization. This year it was “Hold Fast to Dreams’’ by Joel Thompson. Students are sent the sheet music. They have to learn the piece on their own and they learn their part while a recording is going on in the background without their part being played. Then they record themselves and submit it through an online platform that regional judges listen to and they are scored against all the other submissions. It cost the students $25 to apply. Half the students applied through Stingle and the school while the other half applied on their own. The students got their results the same night with 10 out of 11 applicants being chosen.
Choirs are popular at West Morris Central among kids who can carry a tune. There are six in all, a classroom choir, two auditioned choirs and three a cappella groups. “The school is about 70 years old,’’ Stingle said. “They have had a very strong musical tradition since the beginning. Some of the people who came before me were here for 20-30 years. “They have always had this tradition here. We have very dedicated and very talented musical students that come through the district.’’ Some have chosen music as a profession because of training they have been given at the high school. Others continue to pursue it as a minor degree in college and still others keep performing for their own enjoyment or as part of their social circle after they graduate. “Percentage wise we will have at least four or five out of 50 (go for musical careers) and about 100 in the entire program,’’ Stingle said. “If five or so of those go into some form of music. That is five percent. That is actually a high percentage because a lot of people decide not to do music when they go in and if you count the ones who are going to do a minor in music and maybe music education, we are probably up to about 10 to 20 kids.’’ Most of the students who were accepted for the Honors Choir are seniors. They will have to pay for their lodging to attend the 4-day event. However, being a part of the regional choir is considered an experience of a lifetime for those that love to sing. “It is a big honor for these kids” Stingle said.