About the Program
East High School is proud to offer five curricular choral ensembles, including Bass Chorale, Treble Chorale, Concert Choir, Varsity Choir, and Chamber Choir. In addition, East has three extra-curricular opportunities; Premiere, New Sound, and The Headliners.
The Iowa High School Music Association sanctions our high school choir competitions and events. Through involvement in choir, students learn valuable life skills including teamwork, concentration and focus, and confidence.
Students in Action
Ensembles
The Treble and Bass Chorales are the entry-level choral ensembles at East High School, comprised mostly of freshmen, though open to any student. The focus of these ensembles is developing pitch and rhythm, beautiful tone, and music literacy skills. In addition to presenting one concert each quarter, members of the Bass and Treble Chorales assist in the production of the annual Madrigal Dinner.
East High’s Raider Choir is an intermediate level ensemble, comprised of soprano, alto, tenor, and bass voices from grades ten through twelve. Students build on musicianship and literacy skills developed in Chorale.
Varsity Choir is the advanced soprano-alto ensemble at EHS, focusing on upper-level SSAA repertoire.
The Chamber Choir is the most advanced choral ensemble at EHS, comprised of soprano, alto, tenor, and bass voices. This ensemble focuses primarily on unaccompanied repertoire, and is the most active of East’s curricular choral ensembles. In addition to four quarterly concerts, they serve as the Royal Court in East’s annual Madrigal Feast. In recent years, they have collaborated with collegiate and professional ensembles including those from the University of Northern Iowa, the University of South Dakota, Luther College, and Opera Iowa; and have been invited to give solo stage performances at the Morningside College Composition Competition Festival (2016), the Iowa Choral Showcase (2019), and the Dorian Vocal Festival (2020).
Premiere is one of two junior-varsity show choirs at EHS, comprised of soprano and alto voices, and competing four times each season. In 2020, Premiere earned the Grand Champion award at Sioux Falls Roosevelt and First Runner-Up at Bishop Heelan.
New Sound is the mixed-voice (SATB) junior-varsity show choir at EHS, competing five times each season. In 2020, New Sound earned Grand Champion awards at both Waconia and Bishop Heelan.
The Headliners is the varsity show choir at EHS, comprised of mixed voices from grades ten through twelve. In 31 years of competition, they have garnered more than 50 Grand Champion awards, and innumerable awards for Best Vocals, Best Choreography, and Best Band. In 2020, they earned Grand Champion awards at Papillion-La Vista South, Sioux Falls Roosevelt, and Bishop Heelan, along with four Best Vocals awards, four Best Band awards, three Best Choreography awards, two People’s Choice awards, and awards for Best Crew, Best Female Performer (Miranda Navarro, ’20), and Best Male Soloist (Max Braunstein, ’21).
Events
The East High choir department puts on an annual Madrigal dinner—which has been in existence for nearly 40 years—and a Cabaret show. The department also collaborates with the East High drama club for the annual musical and participates in state-level events with the IHSMA. These events include the All-State festival, solo and small ensemble festival, large group festival, and ICDA events including High School Honor Choir and the Iowa Choral Showcase.
‘Sing All About It’ Show Choir Invitational is an annual feature event presented by East High each spring. In addition to providing a friendly competition for middle and high school show choirs, ‘Sing All About It’ is the largest fundraising event for the East High Show Choir program.
Meet the Director
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- Thomas Hales
- halest@live.siouxcityschools.com
