Press Releases
FeelitLIVE Announces Winners of America’s Top Choirs 2021
The Keller Central High School Chamber Women from Fort Worth, TX Take Top Prize
FeelitLIVE Team
Nov 1, 2022
Menlo Park, CA, USA and Castro Valley, CA, USA - FeelitLIVE, Inc., the creators of FeelitLIVE, the world’s first all-in-one choir tech platform, today announced the winners of America's Top Choirs™ High School Edition 2022, the largest and most inclusive online high school choral competition in the USA.
A Cappella from Castro Valley High School in Castro Valley, CA was named the Grand Prize Winner after earning the highest score among the top 10 finalists. As Grand Prize Winner, the choir group will receive a $2,500 cash prize and the 2022 America's Top Choirs™ High School Edition trophy.
Laryssa Sadoway, Choir Director, A Cappella said, "It is such an honor to be the Grand Prize Winner of America's Top Choirs! And to have earned Best Choreography? We are thrilled. Castro Valley students worked hard and persevered, especially through tough pandemic years, to keep honing their choral skills, with the goal of getting back to live performances and sharing their love of music with audiences near and far. This is a big fundraising year, as the choir prepares for a trip back to Carnegie Hall, where they will perform their own spotlight set, and with a National Concerts' festival chorus singing Mozart's Coronation Mass with students from around the country. Our prize money goes to supporting getting each of our singers there for this awesome opportunity".
High school choirs from across the US were invited to upload a song performance recorded during the 2021-2022 academic year. The contest received a multitude of submissions from schools from across the country. A judges’ panel of leading choral experts evaluated the entries and the viewing audience was invited to vote during the live finale which premiered on May 15, 2022, at 5 PM PT / 8 PM ET.
The esteemed judges on the panel included Dr. Charlene Archibeque, Dr. Jeffrey Benson, Dr. Derrick Fox, Dr. Corie Brown, and Dr. Jeffery Redding.
“Thank you for your heart Castro Valley High School, and thank you for just a wonderful performance. We are so so so glad that you got to share this beautiful music altogether”, said Dr. Jeffrey Benson, one of the judges.
The top 10 finalists were selected based on an overall 40-point score with 30 points derived from the judge’s criteria of Technical Evaluation, Musical and Artistic Criteria, and Overall Artistic Impression, along with Audience Voting (during the live Grand Finale event hosted on Oct 23) which accounted for 10 points.
The Winners
Grand Prize Winner
A Cappella, Castro Valley High School, Castro Valley, CA
Best Creative Visuals
Powerhouse, John Burroughs High School, Burbank, CA
Best Choreography
A Cappella, Castro Valley High School, Castro Valley, CA
Best Audio/Video Engineering
SoundProof, Kansas City A Cappella, Prairie Village, KS
Outstanding Live Performance
Keller Central High School Chamber Women, Keller Central High School, Keller, TX
About America's Top Choirs™ High School Edition 2022 (https://www.feelitlive.com/americas-top-choirs)
America's Top Choirs™ is a virtual forum created to showcase the vast choral talent in the United States and hosted by FeelitLIVE, the all-in-one digital entertainment platform. America's Top Choirs™ shines a spotlight on choirs that generate beautiful music in the country every day and get together to celebrate teamwork, resilience, talent, diversity, hope, and positivity.
About A Cappella, Castro Valley High School (https://castrovalleyhighsc.wixsite.com/cvhs-choir-program)
Hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area, Castro Valley High School A Cappella is the premier concert choir in their choral program. A Cappella comprises three separate classes that practice together one evening per month. They routinely earn the highest of marks from clinicians and medals at the prestigious annual Golden State Choral Competition, where in 2019 they hosted the event after in 2018 both CVHS A Cappella, and the CVHS Madrigals, placed first in the state of California in their respective competition divisions, an achievement only three high school choral programs have ever achieved in the entire history of the competition.
Highlights from their current school year of 2022-23 include touring to New York City, where they will again sing at Carnegie Hall in a spotlight performance on April 1st, and many other local festivals and performances, including their signature student-directed POPS show. The CVHS Choir Program prides itself on not just being a training ground for choral musicianship, but for empowering students to be open-minded, curious individuals, and active participants in their own learning and strong voices in their community.
About FeelitLIVE (www.feelitlive.com)
FeelitLIVE is the world’s first all-in-one choir tech platform, empowering choral groups to host events, engage audiences, monetize content, and build lasting relationships with their communities. Built by MIT alums, FeelitLIVE is fast becoming home to choirs across North America. FeelitLIVE provides every choir the platform to deliver the beautiful and uplifting experiences they have always imagined. The company is also the creator of the rapidly growing Top ChoirsTM franchise that has found great success in the U.S. and Canada. FeelitLIVE is headquartered in Menlo Park, CA, with passionate and talented team members on four continents.
Contact Information
Robert Martindale
+1.858.864.8600
Laryssa Sadoway
Castro Valley High School
+15109104416