CGS Chorus earns 1st place rating at IGSMA Contest
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Chester Grade School Jr. High Chorus, under the direction of Mr. Zeb Holder, competed in the 2010 Illinois Grade School Music Association Southern Division Choral Organizational Contest Friday, March 26 in Marion, Illinois. The result for Mr. Holder's first contest as a teacher was an overall 1st place rating.
The CGS Chorus did a wonderful job of performing in front of the three judges. The chorus is made up of primarily 6th and 7th graders with a few 8th graders rounding out the group. The judges made a special point of praising the young group for their efforts.
Singers were evaluated on seven criteria including Tone, beauty, blend and control; Intonation within and between sections; Technique such as breathing, posture and rhythm; Interpretation like musical effect, phrasing, style and tempo; Diction which means the purity, clarity and naturalness of the singing; Balance and General Effect aspects of the performance including choice of music, discipline, stage presence, appearance and memorization.
The three judges combined their individual scores to create one single overall rating. As a group the judges scored CGS as having earned a Division I 1st place rating.
Some of the specific comments made by the judges included, "Posture is good"; "Tempo is good"; Good girl voices"; Beautiful girls voices"; "Sweet kids and great potential"; Good accompaniment"; Good effort"; "You have a great beginning. Some nice voices. Keep smiling and practicing"; "Beautiful solo voices"; and "Shows work and direction. It's great to see so many men in the group. Hang in there and you will be glad you did some day."
The Jr. High Choir sang three songs for their competition including, "Dust in the Wind", by Kerry Livgren of Kansas; "What a Wonderful World", by George David Weiss and Bob Thiele and "Remember Me", by Jerry Estes.
Mr. Holder was very pleased with the choir for their efforts at the contest and was happy that they earned a 1st place overall rating. He looks forward to performing the three songs again for the parents, teachers and other guests at the CGS Spring Concert Thursday. April 29. The event takes place at 6:30 p.m. in the Chester Grade School Gymnasium.