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Eleven Harker singers took part in the American Choral Directors Association’s Coastal Region Honor Choir concert this past weekend, alongside some of the best high school singers in the Bay Area.
Eight students were part of the Mixed Choir: Krishna Bheda, grade 10; Karina Butani, grade 10; Mia Giammona, grade 11; Madhu Karra, grade 12; Ashwin Rao, grade 11; Gurutam Thockchom, grade 12; Sumi Wadhwa, grade 10; and Tiffany Zhu, grade 11. Three sang in the Women’s Choir: Anika Banga, grade 10; Morgan Douglas, grade 10; and Rithi Jayam, grade 9.
The students rehearsed all day and evening on Thursday and Friday, as well as Saturday morning, prior to the concert, which was held at First United Methodist Church in Palo Alto. They were prepped by Susan Nace and Jennifer Sandusky, Harker music teachers and choir directors.
“Susan really did a lot of prep work with the kids on the music prior to the Honor Choir rehearsals,” noted Sandusky.
Singers will advance to California All-State Honor Choirs, to be held Feb. 11-13 in San Jose, based on scores from their regional audition. In those auditions, “students were scored on vocal tone quality, intonation, sight-reading abilities and musicianship skills. Each sings an Italian Art Song, sings major, minor and chromatic scales a cappella, and completes a sight-singing exercise,” said Sandusky.