NEWS Walnut Valley Unified School District
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 880 S. Lemon Avenue
March 9, 2012 Walnut, CA 91789
300 Walnut Valley Students Participate in Choral Showcase
WALNUT, CA-- A Choral Showcase was held for Walnut Valley Unified School District middle and high schools on March 7.
Diamond Bar and Walnut High School co-hosted the event held in the DBHS Theatre.
The middle school directors included Jeff Blackstone- Suzanne, Larry Haynes- Chaparral, and Robin Wadsworth- South Pointe. The high school directors included Patty Breitag - Diamond Bar High, and Lisa Lopez – Walnut High.
“It was the first time this type of event has happened in over 20 years in our district,” said Lisa Lopez.
“Since Patty and I are friends, we have been talking for years about bringing the Diamond Bar and Walnut schools together,” she said.
This year, due to the economic struggles, they decided to present a festival format (professional adjudication onstage) for the middle schools without the cost of entry fees, and transportation.
Eight choirs each performed for about 8-10 minutes with music from their own program and then received an onstage clinic from Dr. Iris Levine from Cal Poly Pomona.
The students really enjoyed Dr. Levine’s humor and enthusiasm and each group showed improvement after just a few minutes of working with her.
It was a great opportunity for the kids to hear each other’s programs and for the directors and kids to learn from the clinician’s comments, Lopez said.
And the theater was filled to capacity with proud parents during the event!
The focus was on high quality, festival literature, with all schools performing classical and/or folk music.
Lopez said they started small this year, and hope to expand to include the elementary schools and all of the high school performing ensembles next year.
Shown:
Robin Wadsworth conducts the South Pointe Middle School choir.
The Walnut High School ensemble performed under the direction of choir teacher Lisa Lopez.
Diamond Bar High School singers perform at the showcase under the direction of Patty Brietag.