Pictured are: Back row — Lydia McCraw of Abingdon, Bryant Denmark of Kingsport, Peter Morison and Daniel Osborne of Bristol; Front row — Hannah Beasey and Maggie Melton of Bristol, and Artistic Director, Jane DeLoach Morison of Bristol.
Six singers from the choirs of the Mountain Empire Children's Choral Academy were chosen for National Honor Choirs under the auspices of the American Choral Directors Association.
"Our MECCA singers are wonderful young musicians, and it is a thrill to watch them have such fantastic opportunities, " says Artistic Director, Jane DeLoach Morison. "Our singers were chosen from over 1,500 applicants from across the nation, and when they got to Salt Lake City they rehearsed and performed with some of the best choral directors in the world."
Directors for this year's honor choirs were Angela Broeker, Bob Chilcott, Elena Sharkova, and Andre Thomas. The singers rehearsed for three days, and performed three concerts, one each in the Mormon Tabernacle and Abravanel Hall, and a grand finale concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Singing Sergeants, the Utah Symphony Orchestra, Sylvia McNair, and Santino Fontana in the Latter Day Saints Conference Center.
"I saw seasoned ACDA directors just shaking their heads in wonder at the finale concert," says Morison. "Even those directors who did not personally have singers there to participate were so proud of our young musicians. We all have a stake in their futures."
