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PAGE 10A - THE COMMERCE (GA) NEWS. WEDNESDAY. APRIL 2. 2008
The JCCHS Advanced Choral Ensemble heads to Germany this Sunday.
Chorus Is Off To Germany Sunday
Students in Todd Chandler’s
Advanced Choral Ensemble at
Jackson County Comprehensive
High School are preparing for an
eight-day tour of Germany. While
overseas, the choir will perform
alongside the Liszt School of
Music instrumentalists in Weimar,
Germany.
'This is a huge honor for the
choral program here at JCCHS,”
said Todd Chandler, choir direc
tor.
The eight-day trip in Europe will
begin this Sunday, April 6, with
nearly 50 students, parents, and
other guests headed to Europe.
The choir will not only perform
with the Liszt School of Music
instrumentalists, a performance
at Camp Buchenwald, the larg
est former concentration camp
in Germany, is also tentatively on
the schedule. Students will return
to the states April 13.
The choirs at JCCHS have
traveled far before to sing, with
prior trips to New York, Vienna,
Austria, and Prague, Republic of
Czech. The group has also per
formed upon the request of Gov.
Sonny Perdue at the Governor’s
Mansion.
Chandler calls this trip the
group’s greatest accomplishment.
“Each year, we try to make the
trip bigger and better, and we
have done that this year with the
Germany trip,” he said.
While in Germany, the group
will do some sightseeing. On
its list of things to do and see
are the Red Tower, the Market
Church of St. Mary, the Bach
Research Institute and Museum,
and Buchenwald. The group will
travel to Berlin, Leipzig, Bayreuth
and Weimar, along with small
towns and villages.
Choral students are excited
about the opportunity they have
to perform with such a distin
guished group.
“It’s an exciting opportunity
because rarely do high school
choral groups get to travel outside
the country,” said Haley Baggerley,
a senior at JCCHS. “To be singing
with such a great orchestra is a
huge honor.”
When asked what he hopes
to take away from the trip, Eli
Gaultney, a senior at JCCHS,
said, “I hope to gain a greater
and more informed multicultural
world view, and I will have the
chance to share the universal pas
sion of music.”
Jackson County Schools
Superintendent Shannon Adams
is also impressed with the choir’s
achievements.
“To have a group participat
ing in something like this,” said
Adams, “is a clear indication of
our school system’s belief that
fine arts programs are an integral
and important part of the overall
high school experience.”
Still in the fund-raising stages
of the trip, Chandler says more
money is needed to help allevi
ate the financial burdens on the
students. Donations to the group
are tax deductible. Interested
donors should contact Chandler
at 706-367-5003 or tchandler@
jackson.kl2.ga.us.
Dr. Wally Hinson directs the JCCHS Advanced Choral Ensemble
during a recent workshop at Piedmont College. Hinson predicted
that on its upcoming trip to Germany, the ensemble “will make
the county, state and the nation proud with your wonderful per
formances in Germany.”
Ensemble Wins Praise From
Piedmont College Choral Director
In a workshop to tune up
for their April 6-13 trip to
Germany, the Jackson County
Comprehensive High School
Advanced Choral Ensemble got
a hearty endorsement.
Todd Chandler, director, took
his group to Piedmont College
recently for a workshop under
the college’s choral director, Dr.
Wally Hinson.
“Dr. Hinson’s recommenda
tions and comments were
extremely helpful,” Chandler
said. “His advice was well-
received by the students and
we’re going to take full advan
tage by implementing many of
his strategies.”
For his part, Hinson was
complimentary of the JCCHS
group.
“They are extremely musi
cal and sing wonderfully in
tune with excellent balance
and blend,” he commented.
“They are intelligent singers
and extremely focused on sing
ing beautifully. The choir has
really captured the essence
of the “Faure Requiem,” and
sings it with depth of feeling
and a wonderful sense of tone
— something that is difficult to
do, even with the most experi
enced choirs. Each movement
they sang was more beauti
ful than the one before it. A
superb job!”
Hinson added that he con
sidered the ensemble “to be
one of the finest high school
choirs in the state of Georgia”
and predicted that the choir
“will make the county, state
and the nation proud with your
wonderful performances in
Germany.”
Earn Their Dog Tags
"Bentonway" Comes To Nicholson
The Benton Elementary School Drama
Club performed a variety show “A Night
on Bentonway” utilizing the new Nicholson
amphitheater. The third through fifth grad
ers have been working hard all year on skits,
songs, dances and puppets on this stage.
Cast members include Amber Hinz, Christian
Barrett, Jessica Adams, Hailey Sanders,
Savannah Henson, Aileen Teran, Maria Najera,
Caitlin Brock, Sabrina Jenkins, Kevin Reyes,
Megan Hissom, Laura Becker, Beka Hill, Cade
Lee, Holleigh Looney, Terra Headrick, Frannie
Gay, Crystal Huau, Will Becker, Hunter Smith,
Lucas Mayberry, Reeves Nesmith,Tia Hawkins,
Whitley Brooks, Destyni Stone, Anna Kinney
and Caitlin Akins.
These Benton Elementary School students in to right are Nicol Borjas-Rogel, Melody Heu,
Lolita Brown-Zekeri’s second grade class earned Jaquelyn Mejia-Murillo and Kelly Garcia,
their 25-point Accelerated Reader dog tags. Left
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