The Connecticut Music Educators Association hosted the Northern Regional High School Festival this past weekend, January 13 and 14. While the big event on Saturday morning was unfortunately cancelled due to inclement weather, the three Canterbury students who were selected to participate in the festival had the opportunity to rehearse their performance with the Honors Choir on Friday.
In order to perform at the festival, singers and instrumentalists in both the classical and jazz vernaculars competed in a regional competition on November 4, 2017. Participants practiced solos, scales, and sight-reading. Following this tough competition, the three students, Jessica Garcia '19, a repeat performer; and newcomers Selina Xin '19, and Giorgo Caripidis-Soto '19 were selected from hundreds of other singers to perform in the Honors Choir. All three performers are active members of Canterbury's Choral Department.
The singers sent several hours on Friday rehearsing with about 200 other singers from the region. Impressively, they sang their performance pieces in English, German, Hebrew, and Sanskrit.
Canterbury's Choral Director, Sarah Armstrong, was slated to join her students as a member of the ensemble playing percussion. She notes of Garcia '19, Xin '19, and Caripidis-Soto '19, "While clearly disappointed in not getting the opportunity to bring their choral experience to a culminating performance, they were inspired by this experience to push themselves to work even harder for the All-State auditions happening Saturday, January 27."
To learn more about Canterbury's Choral Program, we invite you to contact Sarah Armstrong directly at sarmstrong@cbury.org