On Saturday, April 20, four choral groups from PHS (A Cappella Choir, Chamber Choir, Men’s Ensemble and Women’s Ensemble) performed in the 2024 WorldStrides Heritage Festival competition. All four received a gold rating- the highest a choir can receive- at the competition, meaning the groups scored above 90 points between the three observing judges. Each judge gave a rating between 0-100 and these were averaged out for the groups’ final scores. A Cappella Choir and Men’s Ensemble both received first place, and Chamber Choir and Women’s Ensemble scored second place. A Cappella Choir and Women’s Ensemble both earned the Adjudicator Award, which is given to choral groups scoring above 95 points, a high honor, with 95.3 and 95.6 points respectively. Also with honorable scores, Chamber Choir received a rating of 93.6 points and Men’s Ensemble earned 91.6 points.
“New York is notoriously one of the most difficult locations to compete,” said choir director Joshua Dubs. “This year, there were more choirs than I’ve ever known that entered. Our choirs did their very best to represent their music and their school, and it is demonstrated through their high achievement. I’m very proud of their work.”
A Cappella performed “The Last Words of David,” set to music by Randall Thompson, “O Love,” by Elaine Hagenberg, and “Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal,” arranged by Alice Parker and with a solo featuring sophomore Keira McPeek.
“I was very nervous, but I felt like it was a really great honor to be able to sing (a solo) in New York City,” said McPeek. “I was definitely nervous and I could’ve done better, but I think the performance I did was good.”
Chamber Choir sang “The Conversion of Saul,” by Z. Randall Stroope, “Can We Sing the Darkness to Light?” with music and lyrics by Kyle Pederson, and “Elijah Rock,” arranged by Moses G. Hogan. Men’s Ensemble performed “And So It Goes,” with words and music by Billy Joel and arranged by Kirby Shaw, and “Bella Ciao,” by Pieter Bongaarts. Women’s Ensemble sang “Festival Sanctus,” by John Leavitt and “Flight,” with music by Craig Carnelia and arranged by Ryan Murphy.
“My favorite song was ‘Can We Sing the Darkness to Light?,’” said senior Brayden Deuley. “I thought the competition was really nice because the church we were in made us better.”
On the evening of Wednesday, April 17, members of the choirs loaded onto buses and headed to New York City. By late Thursday morning, the group was in the city. From there, they visited the Top of the Rock, explored Times Square, ate at Ellen’s Stardust Diner, and watched “Wicked” on Broadway. On Friday the group went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, 9/11 Memorial, and a restaurant in Little Italy.
“I think the 9/11 Memorial was a good experience because nobody in school now was alive for that, and it put it into perspective,” said senior Mack Coleman.
The choirs will perform their competition pieces in the annual Spring Concert, held on May 14 at 7:00 p.m. in the auditorium.
