The Woodhaven Choir had outstanding performances, ranking the highest score of all 1’s at the Downriver Choral Association choir festival March 16th. Hosted by Woodhaven High School, the DCA was invented by the WHS choir teacher Ms. Rize to provide a more meaningful choral experience to choirs in the Downriver area.

The WHS choir had a variety of performances from the Bella Voce choir, the Chamber Ensemble choir, the Warrior Chorus, and the Concert choir. The Bella Voce choir performed the song “Love is a Rain of Diamonds,” featuring solos from Elaina Primeau, Gwen Ryan, Maggie Korzeniewski, Sam Syverson, Mackenzie Whitman, and Magdalena Quiroz. Students Hannah Piercall and Sophia Valchine had an awesome opportunity to be featured on the drums and on the finger cymbals in the song “Everything She Touches,” sung by the Bella Voce choir. The WHS Chamber Ensemble had phenomenal performances of the songs “Dies Irae” and “Let My Love Be Heard.”

The DCA choir festival had 6 districts, 8 schools, and 17 ensembles attend. There were also music professors from Bowling Green State University, Siena Heights University, Wayne State University, and Oakland University who attended the festival. The festival had a clinic aspect which gave the choirs the ability to learn more and be able to improve the way they perform. Each choir arrived and warmed up, performed in the WHS auditorium for a panel of judges, and received a clinic from one of the judges.

Ms. Rize enjoyed the clinic saying, “The best part of the festival, in my opinion, is the clinic portion where one of the judges gets to work with the choirs and improve their performance. We received a lot of positive feedback, but also walked away with a few new tricks up our sleeve that we can use in the future to be even better.”

Each judge graded each choir in 6 different categories worth 5 points each for a total of 30 points per judge, 90 points overall. The WHS choirs each received a Division I Excellent rating, which means they earned a minimum of 72 points. They were all very excited, for this was the first time in all 9 years of Ms. Rize teaching at Woodhaven that ALL choirs received a division 1 rating.