Heartland Community School was humming with 280 junior high students from around the state working on songs together last Friday afternoon. The Heartland Jr. High Choral Festival (HCF) began at 12:30 p.m. with 170 girls and 110 boys in attendance. After a day of practicing, they performed for the public Friday evening at 6 p.m. in the Heartland North gym.
Schools participating were Arapahoe, David City, Fillmore Central Middle School, Freeman, Heartland, Kearney Horizon Middle School, Malcolm, McCool Junction, Seward Middle School, Superior, Sutton, Wood River, and York St. Joseph.
This year, the festival featured two vocal directors- Katie Lusk (Bellevue), who directed the Soprano-Alto choir, and Mark Harman (Fremont), who led the Boys Choir. Accompanists for the event were Sandra Quiring and Chelsea Vaught.
Here’s an excerpt from what Heartland Choral Director Lynn Hall had to say about this event when we interviewed him last year at Heartlandbeat.
This choral festival has a bit of history since it began back in January 1998. The first nine years of the festival focused on a boys’ choir comprised of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders, typically with about 140-180 members, according to Heartland vocal/music instructor Lynn Hall.
“We concentrated on boys at that time, thinking that they might need a little extra push to get in the choir room and that smaller schools like us might especially appreciate an opportunity for their young guys to sing with a bunch of other guys who also liked to sing. It could also be an excellent reinforcement for small school music programs,” said Hall.
After a few years, many schools began requesting that they offer the same opportunity for young ladies in this age group, said Hall. In 2007, a Soprano/Alto Choir was added, and it was “an immediate success,” he said. In 2020, there were 260 singers in the Soprano/Alto Choir and 155 singers in the Tenor/Bass Choir. After a two-year hiatus due to pandemic concerns, 2024 was the 25th year Heartland hosted this festival.
The Soprano-Alto Choir performed “Gloria Deo, “Come in from the Firefly Darkness,” and “Give Us Hope.” The Boys Choir performed “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” Annabel Lee,” and “Tell My Father.” The Combined Choir sang “Riversong.”
Photos courtesy Lynn Hall and Joanne Haidle
