APS Fine Arts Hosts Second Elementary Honor Choir

Some 300 students to sing on Eldorado stage

April 30, 2010

The Albuquerque Public Schools Fine Arts program will host the 2nd Annual Elementary Honor Choir Festival this weekend. The 300 fourth- and fifth-graders selected from 48 schools will participate in two concerts at 3:30 and 4:45 p.m., Saturday, May 1, at the Eldorado High School (map) performing arts center, 11300 Montgomery NE. Fourth-graders perform at the first show, with the fifth-graders in the second.

“A program like this demonstrates the passion and commitment students and teachers have to music in the schools,” APS Superintendent Winston Brooks said. “We hope this concert becomes a long-standing tradition.”

Music teachers from the elementaries offering the class this year selected three students from each of the two grades. That will put about 150 students on the stage at each concert.

Fourth-graders will perform under the direction of Paul Halstead, a music teacher for Las Cruces Public Schools and co-director of the Doña Ana County Children’s Choir. Lynn Brinckmeyer, associate professor of music and director of choral music at Texas State University, will conduct the fifth-graders. Students will rehearse with Halstead and Brinckmeyer throughout the day Saturday.

David and Martha Peercy are sponsoring the fourth-grade concert. The fifth-grade show is sponsored by the William H. and Lillian Dolde Charitable Trust.

“Music is important to our school kids’ education,” said David Peercy, an APS Board of Education member. “My dad was a high school music director, and the arts played a central role in my family’s life. This is a unique event that deserves our support.”

The concert is free and open to the public.

Every child has a right to a quality public education and APS is committed to providing that education. For more information about Albuquerque Public Schools, visit www.aps.edu.