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St. C. Singers Host Return of Show Choir Competition to Ohio Valley

Showcase of Sound Set for Saturday

St. C. Singers perform their award-winning show “Genesis Revolution” during a competition in Hurrican, W.Va. (Photo by Eric Ayres)

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Talented high school performers from the far reaches of Ohio and West Virginia will travel to the Ohio Valley on Saturday for the first time in nearly six years when they compete in the Showcase of Sound: St. C. Division III Show Choir Invitational.

Hosted by the St. C. Singers, the Showcase of Sound will take place throughout the day Saturday at Buckeye Local High School. The event is open to the public and is sure to draw scores of families among hundreds of well-traveled show choir fanatics from the participating schools, as well as plenty of area people who are curious about the oftentimes unfamiliar world of show choir.

This year’s showcase will feature 10 show choir groups, with eight of those groups competing for the grand championship title, as well as honors in several categories, from best vocals to best show concept, best tech crew, best band, male and female soloist honors, the peoples’ choice award, best choreography and more.

Competing groups will include show choirs from Sissonville High School in West Virginia and from Tallmadge, Fort Frye, Licking Valley, Elgin, Van Buren, Riverdale and Sheridan high schools in Ohio.

Groups not competing but presenting exhibition-only performances will include the show choir from Winfield High School in West Virginia, St. Clairsville High School’s vocal music group Sweet Harmony and the Little St. C. Singers, featuring youngsters who took part in last summer’s Little Singers Camp held alongside their teen mentors. Host group the St. C. Singers will perform their award-winning 2017 show “Genesis Revolution” one last time in the Ohio Valley before taking the show to Nashville, Tenn., for a season-finale performance in March.

Most show choirs begin developing their season’s show in the summertime before the school year starts. A theme is developed, songs are selected in line with that theme, and costumes, color schemes and set designs are conceptualized as the show is developed at the beginning of the school year.

“Our entire show could change a few times throughout the process if it isn’t coming together like we expected it should,” Teri Coleman, co-director of the St. C. Singers, said. “It’s always fun to see what we started with an how many times we changed to get to the final product.”

In the fall, the students rehearse the songs, learn choreography for their show, and like a winter sport for the performing arts, the groups compete on weekends in January and February, and sometimes into March.

Shows are performed on risers to accommodate an average of 50 choir members who are backed by a live band or small orchestra, which also is comprised of students. The groups’ members include an all-student technical crew that helps bring “magic” to the show by coordinating stage sets, dramatic lighting, necessary props and other essential elements of the show.

When it’s all put together, the performance tells a story through sound and vision, with all the stage theatrics, glitz and dazzle of a highlight reel from a Broadway musical — condensed into a 15- to 20-minute show.

The original group known as the St. C. Singers was founded in the early 1980s by former choir director at St. Clairsville Schools, the late Barb Jeffries. The group subsequently evolved from a community performance choir into a competitive show choir. Since that time decades ago, St. Clairsville High School has remained the only school in the Upper Ohio Valley to have a competitive show choir.

“We’ve always said that we’re kind of on an island,” Wayne Berk, co-director of the St. C. Singers and director of the vocal music program at St. Clairsville High School, said. “From here to Canton, Columbus or Charleston — that’s about as close as we get to other schools that have competitive show choirs. But once you get out around Columbus, there’s 15 schools with show choirs. In the Cincinnati area, there’s another 15. Around Charleston, another 15 …”

This routinely translates into into grueling 24-hour days with travel times of around two to three hours each way just to get to and from all-day competitions for the St. C. Singers. Likewise, schools participating in the Showcase of Sound have to bear the expense and make a long day of traveling to and from the Ohio Valley where few show choirs have reason to venture.

The Showcase of Sound began in the 1990s and served as one of the St. C. Singers’ biggest annual fundraising events for more than 15 years. In the wake of the recession, however, long-distance travel expenses became burdensome for many schools that would normally participate in the event, and the showcase was put on hiatus for several years.

In reviving the event, organizers wanted to offer an incentive for schools from Northeast Ohio, central West Virginia and beyond to come to the Ohio Valley for a competition. This year, the Showcase will be a Class C championship invitational, with only small schools competing. At most show choir competitions, groups compete during the day against schools of the same class size, based on total school enrollment. In the evening, the top handful of schools — regardless of class — compete against each other for the grand championship and other prizes in the finals.

This formula makes it difficult for smaller schools to compete for the top prizes against large schools, which often boast annual budgets of more than $200,000 and audition show choir members by selecting the best talent among thousands of students enrolled in the large schools.

“We’re trying to create something that will attract schools and make them want to come all the way out here to eastern Ohio,” Berk said. “We want to get a niche — a small school division championship targeting all of the smaller schools. The ones that make it to the finals go against other small schools of the same size, schools with 750 students or less. It levels the playing field in that regard. We’re hoping over the next several years, these schools will put as down a destination they have to have.”

Because of the small size of St. Clairsville’s auditorium and configuration of other campus facilities, the St. C. Singers have not been able to host the Showcase at their home school. In the past, the group has held the Showcase of Sound at Ohio University Eastern, Union Local High School and Buckeye Local High School, where it will make its return in 2017.

“Buckeye Local has a nice auditorium and great facilities, and we’re very happy to be partnering with them again to bring this together,” Berk said.

The St. Clairsville-Richland City School District had been working on plans for the development of a new performing arts center that would accommodate such an event, but the plans recently have gone back to the drawing board with hopes of including designs to address additional needs for school facilities, officials indicated.

Until a new home venue becomes a reality, the Showcase of Sound will be held outside the district, and organizers hope the community will continue to provide the great support it has always shown.

“It takes a lot of commitment and hard work from everyone involved,” Coleman said. “The students and parents have to be dedicated and willing to put forth a lot of energy and time. We also need a lot of support from our community. Our program is strictly funded through donations and fundraising events.”

The St. Clairsville Vocal Music Boosters provide funding for the St. C. Singers and are spearheading the effort to bring the Showcase of Sound back to the Ohio Valley. There will be a smorgasbord of homemade food and baked goods available for purchase, as well as Kirke’s Homemade Ice Cream, gifts and “shout outs” available for the performers, T-shirts by American Graphix & Apparel, and more.

“It’s going to be a full day of entertainment and wonderful homemade food provided by the boosters,” Shelly Carnes, president of the St. Clairsville Vocal Music Boosters, said.

For more information about the Showcase of Sound: St. C. Division III Show Choir Invitational, email s.carnes@comcast.net or call 740-695-6238.

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