Wednesday, April 9, 2008

BHS Choir Wins in NYC!

CONGRATS to the BHS Choir and Mallory...We are very proud of you!

Hi Cathy,
Just wanted to explain about the article (below) I sent you regarding the BHS Choir's big win in the NYC competition...Mallory Maisner (best female vocalist) is the little girl who has sung the National Anthem for our Annual Reunion Picnic for the last 2 years and will sing for us again this year... She is just phenomenal. Her Mom Patti Basso Maisner, is a BHS '75 graduate and a friend of mine. Mallory is definitely a girl to keep your eye on...she is going places!

Here are some links her mom sent of her solo:

Pam

Students pass by a poster that Craig Murray made of Burbank High's choral groups, Impressions and In Sync, both advance groups that were named Grand Champions in their categories during their competition in New York City. They arrived back home to an excited crowd Monday. (Tammy Abbott/The Leader)

Burbank High choirs come back victorious

Groups went to New York this weekend to compete, earning Grand Champion in two categories.

By Chris Wiebe

Published Apr 08, 2008 - 22:08 PDT

source

Burbank High School choir students were treated to a hero’s welcome at Bob Hope Airport on Monday as they returned victorious from a weekend competition in New York City.

The school’s mixed choir, In Sync, was named Grand Champion over five other competing schools and received awards for musicianship, showmanship and choreography. Burbank High’s all-women’s group, called Impressions, was also named Grand Champion out of a pool of three choirs.

“It felt really good because we were there two years ago and we got beat,” said Eli Lippman, 17, a senior and president of the Vocal Music Assn. “So it was good to go back and win.”

Some of the third- and fourth-year singers had siblings who competed in the competition in 2005, giving the win significance beyond this year’s group, he added.

And as rumor had it, Burbank was the school to beat this year, said senior Jake Berg, 17.

“Our top competition had been preparing for months just to beat us,” he said.

The other schools provided stiff competition, but In Sync had a different style, said sophomore Tori Cuseo, 16.

“They did old Broadway with traditional costumes, and ours was more modern,” she said.

In Sync’s set, which ran about 16 minutes, consisted of contemporary music, including “Taller, Stronger, Better,” originally performed by American Idol star Guy Sebastian, Lippman said. Then the group put on a “Hip Hop Hoedown” — urban hip-hop with a country twist — finishing their routine with a performance of the 1970s disco hit, “Last Dance.”

Freshman Mallory Maisner, 15, was named best female vocalist for her solo in the finale.

“I was happy when I got the award because I’ve been working my whole life in singing,” she said. “And you get respect for it but never really get rewarded. So my hard work paid off.”

Junior Seychelle Gabriel, 17, earned best female performance for her solo parody of a Christina Aguilera tune.

“I worked my tail off at acting out all the songs, and I guess it paid off,” she said.

The all-women’s group Impressions put on a routine that portrayed the plight of a woman in the modern world, struggling with a 9-to-5 job while still trying to make time for herself, said senior Kristin Rondinella, 17.

Though women in the choir could not directly relate, they had to communicate that tone on stage, she added.

“We had to get into playing that attitude,” she said.

And the audience seems to have responded well, said freshman Marci Erdeljac, 15.

“You could see it in their faces,” she said.

“You could tell they just wanted to get up and say, ‘I know what you feel like.’ I thought that they felt what we were trying to make them feel.”

Burbank High Principal Bruce Osgood has traveled every year during his tenure to the choirs’ competitions, and this year was no different.

“Every time they blow me away, but this time in particular they were just so sharp and so energetic,” he said.

In addition to the many successes of the weekend, the trip was also a good bonding experience for choir members, Rondinella said.

“I think it’s a good experience because it gets you involved. . . . And it’s a really cool experience to bond with all our classmates,” she said.

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And here is a video clip of Burbank HS "In Sync" 2007 show choir performing a "Sixties Medley" at the SoCal Invitational - Directed by Brett Carroll
Choreographed by Damon Brown - very cool!







source

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