On Saturday, Nov. 2, more than 800 high school students from across the area gathered at Wakefield High School in Arlington to audition for All-District Chorus. Bishop O'Connell is part of the VCDA District 12, which includes Arlington and Fairfax counties. The students auditioning on Saturday were from 16 different area high schools, public and private, including Oakton, Herndon, Marshall, James Madison, South Lakes, Flint Hill, Chantilly, Oakcrest, Langley, HB Woodlawn, Washington Lee, Yorktown, Wakefield, Madiera, McLean, and O'Connell.
The audition consisted of two parts: a prepared piece and a sight-reading example. This year, the prepared piece was an excerpt from "How Lovely Are The Messengers" by Felix Mendelssohn. The audition was blind, meaning the judges could not see the students and vice versa, and the students sang along to a recorded accompaniment. After the prepared piece, the student was given a short musical excerpt, and only 30 seconds in which to study it. After 30 seconds, the student would sing it and be graded on the accuracy of the rhythm and pitches.
At the end of the day, the scores were tabulated and the top students in each voice part were accepted, aiming for about 100 students in the Women's Choir and about 200 students in the Mixed Choir.
O'Connell students selected for the 9th and 10th grade Women's Choir were:
Katherine Hales (10th grade)
Miranda Smith (10th grade)
The O'Connell students named to the Mixed Choir were:
Meghan Mack (12th grade)
Isabel Fernandez (11th grade)
Jordan Hunt (12th grade)
Maddy Collins (12th grade)
Amanda Mezaros (12th grade)
Of the 800 students that auditioned Maddy Collins, Katherine Hales, and Isabel Fernandez scored within the top fifteen for their respective voice parts. All DJO students that auditioned represented their school well on Saturday. Go Knights!
The District Chorus will rehearse together Feb. 12-14, 2015 at Herndon High School. There will be a public performance following the event on Feb. 14 at 2 p.m.
Congratulations to all participants!
Pictured below (l to r): Katherine Hales, Jordan Hunt, Isabel Fernandez, Amanda Mezaros, Meghan Mack, Miranda Smith and choral director Peter Kadeli. Not pictured: Maddy Collins.
