Students from North Surry and Surry Central High Schools represented Surry County Schools at the 70th Annual Mars Hill Choral Festival.
Each year more than 800 students from approximately 100 high schools audition for the Festival Choir. North Surry students Kaitlin Culbertson, Mady Simmons, Raegan Amos, Colby Mitchell, Will Danley, and Surry Central students Olivia Smith and Kaylyn Pozo were invited to sing in the festival chorus after auditioning for the ensemble in October.
“It was wonderful to see so many students back together in one room singing,” said North Surry Chorus and Theatre Arts Director Sarah McCraw. “The choral directors joined in on one of the choral pieces and I think several of us got teary-eyed just taking in that moment of being able to make music together again.”
Surry Central Choral Music Teacher Angie Smith shared the same sentiment.
“Students, teachers, and parents were very excited to return to the festival this year,” she said. “Covid restrictions have had a huge impact on the arts and to be able to participate in a large choral event again was wonderful. These are the school experiences that students remember their whole life and I am so thankful to be able to help create those opportunities for them again. I also value the opportunity to collaborate with other choral teachers from across our state.”
The Mars Hill University–J. Elwood Roberts Choral Festival was established in 1949 by the late J. Elwood Roberts as an effort to improve choral music in the high schools of western North Carolina. While in the beginning the clinic was comprised of about fifteen schools in the closely surrounding area, this annual event has grown into one of the premier choral festivals in North Carolina and, as far as is known, is the longest, continuously-running festival of its type in the southeast and is unique for a private college in the United States.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
Be First to Comment