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Published March 15, 2010, 07:57 PM

Birchwood and A'cappella Choirs Get Outstanding Ratings

A'cappella recieves two perfect ratings while Birchwood performs one of their best performances all year at a choral contest held in Hibbing.

By: Kristin Trapp , East High School

  • Choralaires
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    Duluth East's choralaires poses for a picture in their Victorian Christmas attire after a holiday performance. The choralaires are also apart of the A'cappella choir that got two perfect scores at a recent choral competition in Hibbing.

“My favorite part is being able to sing with the people I like,” said senior Dan Ott.

On March 9, 2010 the Duluth East Birchwood choir and A’cappella choir performed at Hibbing High School along with Duluth Central, Duluth Denfeld, Hermantown, Cloquet, Hibbing and Grand Rapids. Each school was evaluated by three different judges.

Both choirs have been practicing, performing and perfecting since the beginning of the year, which started out with an exciting retreat at the beginning of the year, which is a very anticipated event for all choir students.

“The performance at Hibbing was fun because we were the last school to perform so we got to watch all the other schools sing. It was definitely the best we have sang all year. We absolutely killed,” said Dan Ott.

Each of these two choirs has a designated time slot during the day during which they practice these arrangements. A’cappella divides the week day mornings up among their different sectionals for more practice time within their own sections.

“I think we sang really well. It was fun to hear everyone else from around our community sing. I love being acapella and it has been one of the most positive experiences I have had in my high school career,” said senior Erik Engelsgjerd.

The Birchwood Choir performed three selections: Mozart's, "Ave Verum Corpus", Banks of Doon by Donna Gartman Schulz, and Amazing Grace, arranged by John Coates. Out of a possible score of 40 points the choir received a 33, 35 and a 36. Two of these scores met the superior criteria of 35 points.

A’cappella received the highest ratings of any school in the competition earning two 40 points ratings and a 39 out of 40. They also performed three selections including a Lithuanian folk piece entitled "Annoj Pusej Dunojelio", Scarlatti's "Salvum Fac Populum", and Peter Luis Van Dijk's, "Horizon's".

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