Tracy High leads county honor musical programs
December 15, 2015
Tracy high students were accepted to the county honor choir, regional honor choir, and county honor orchestra. A total of 21 students were accepted into the county honors choir, five students into regionals choir and 20 students into county honor orchestra. Both county honors choir and county honors orchestra had the highest amount of students from Tracy high compared to all the other high schools in the county.
Jennifer Grover, choir teacher, is part of the county honors and regional choir panel that selects the choir. Grover begins with reviewing auditions and picking students. After the process is completed, and they can construct a group of students, students begin practicing.
“The San Joaquin County Honor Choir is an opportunity to dedicated, focused and ambitious music students from high schools across the county to gather together to prepare beautiful music and perform in a special concert, ” Grover said.
“These students are more advanced and have auditioned to be considered for this exclusive, elite group. They get to meet other young musicians, experience a larger choral community, work with a special guest conductor who is one of the best in the field, create music together, and have a lot of fun.”
Working with the students can be rewarding for all the people in the program, teachers, students and the audience.
“
After the performance I met an older couple who had come to Regionals every year just to hear the choirs sing. It showed how the audience is never just parents but people who want to hear us sing and that made my job as performer so much more important.
— Sierra McElley
Tom Renner, orchestra teacher at Tracy High, is a part of the county honors orchestra panel, leading students through the experience.
“I really love to participate in the county orchestra, it’s an honor for our students, our program, our school, and for me,” Renner said. “It promotes the art and education that we participate in everyday, but on a much larger and more visible scale.”
“I enjoy participating in county orchestra because it gives me a chance to showcase myself along with other music students at Tracy High.” Junior Oscar Saucedo said. “From the auditions to the performance itself, I really enjoy it, and will continue to do it until I graduate.”
This year, the number of students accepted into each program has grown, as it has each year, giving Tracy High pride in all of its music programs.
