Ridge choir travelled to California on March 29 for a competition at Fullerton College where they received the highest rating award possible. During the competition there were many other choir teams there but this was a different type of competition. Each choir would compete against themselves meaning that they were able to win bronze, silver, or gold based on their performance. Our Ridge choir received the gold award, putting choir in the top 10 percent of groups nationwide for performance.

For the competition, to make one big choir, the three choirs combined with students from each.

“All three groups combined, performed at a very high level and received this amazing award for us, that portrayed their hard work, their diligence in practicing, and how they were going the extra mile to come during aca prep rehearsals, and for some to learn brand new material in just a few weeks,”Abel Dragomir, Choir Director, said.

Combining choir students from each level was a task of its own but while practicing they seemed to work even more like a group and showed that in their choir performance.

The award was a welcomed surprise to Emma Schafer, an Honor Choir student.

“We were pretty surprised because none of us felt very prepared for it because we were only able to practice for a month.

“We were pretty ecstatic because there was this choir that performed with dances and everyone was super excited for them to go on and everyone was clapping. They ended up getting a silver medal and we got a gold medal and we were all super excited,” Schafer said.

After their competition in California, they did some team bonding in Disneyland where they were able to spend time as a group and connect with each other in a fun way. Mr. Dragomir was so happy with how well they did, and he believes they will be able to achieve this again next year. This is their second year in a row winning the gold award and he can’t wait to do it again with even more new students to share this experience with.