MALIBU — Five talented singers from the Malibu Middle/High School’s Choral Department earned spots on two prestigious national honor choirs, school district officials announced Monday.
Isobel Anthony, Katie Reinhold, Caitlin Shoemaker, and Nancy Walecki were accepted into the 2011 National Children’s Honor Choir. All are in the girls’ Select Choir at Malibu Middle School. There were 800 applicants for 300 positions, district officials said. The choir will be directed by Henry Leck, an internationally-recognized choral director and an associate professor and director of Choral Activities at Butler University.
Malibu High freshman Martha Thatcher was accepted into the National Junior High/Middle School Honor Choir for grades 7-9. There were 1,200 applicants for 300 positions. This group will be directed by Rollo Dilworth, associate professor of Choral Music Education at Temple University.
The girls will travel to Chicago in March to rehearse and perform with the choirs.
“This is an honor,” said Amy Loch, choral music director at Malibu High. “I was hoping that we might have one student from MHS selected, and to have five students chosen is amazing! It is a fantastic opportunity for our students to work with a national clinician and to rehearse and perform with 300 dedicated peer musicians from across the country.”