Hitting A(CDA) right note

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Junior Vivian Liu, sophomores Cole Holifield, Ella Noreiga and Jake Berube and juniors Sophia Gorostiza and Surya Vedula all qualified for the ACDA Honor Choir. “For me, it was an honor being selected as a member of the ACDA high school honor choir, and it was an enriching experience that motivated me to keep improving my choral abilities,” Vedula said. (Photo/AHS Center for the Arts)

The American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) annually selects choir students from across the state to sing as a part of the ACDA honor choir. This year, nine Heritage high school choir students made the cut to represent American Heritage and Florida on the main stage.

Freshmen Miles Levitan, Dylan Tuccitto and Wesley Wrat were selected to be a part of the ACDA male honor choir, while sophomores Jake Berube and Cole Hollifield, alongside juniors Sophia Gorostiza, Vivian Liu, Ella Noreiga and Surya Vedula, were selected to join the high school honor choir. In addition to her admission to the state choir, Gorostiza was also selected as a selected soloist to perform the soprano solo in the “Benedictus.”

In order to audition for the ACDA choir, prospective members had to send in a recording of the two selected audition songs. Only about one hundred students from each state are admitted into the high school honor choir, which is reserved for students ranging from sophomores to seniors. The same process applies to the male honor choir, which is reserved for high school freshmen and younger.

As members of the ACDA honor choir, the nine selected students rehearsed for their performance, which took place at Stetson University Oct. 27. The group of students from all over the state, having never worked together or met before, practiced for over ten hours in the week leading up to the performance in order to piece together a cohesive performance.

Joanne is a senior at American Heritage School in Plantation, Fla. As a third-year staffer and second-year editor-in-chief, she loves immersing herself in the journalistic field and writing for her publications. Outside of newspaper, Joanne is also co-president of the English Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta math honor society, where she also serves as the student delegate state secretary. Among the other clubs she is a part of, Joanne is also secretary of the linguistics team and Chinese Honor Society, as well as treasurer for Quill and Scroll. In her free time, Joanne loves practicing her photography and going to concerts.