Saline choir students earn high ratings at state Choral Festival

Saline Middle School students sang with excellence at the recent Michigan School Vocal Music Association (MSVMA) Choral Festival.

All three choirs, 7th Grade Choir, 8th Grade Choir, and the select before school ensemble Girls' Choir received a Division 1 Excellent rating at the festival. This is the highest rating groups can receive. All three groups also earned a perfect score in sight-reading.

The Sun Times News (STN) caught up with Eric Floetke, Choir Director at Saline Middle School, to ask about this.

“All of the singers were so excited to see that their hard work paid off,” Floetke said. “Their energy was contagious after finding out!”

The Michigan School Vocal Music Association sponsors an annual concert festival every year. At this festival, Floetke said ensembles performed a prepared concert of two pieces and sight-read music they have never seen before. Based on these performances, he said ensembles are rated on a scale of one to five (one being the highest score).

Saline students participated in the Michigan School Vocal Music Association Choral Festival. photo courtesy of Saline Area Schools

In addition to the rating, he said adjudicators give written comments on the strengths and weaknesses of the performance. After the concert, an adjudicator gives a mini clinic with the choir.

“The goal of festival is to sing at the highest potential and learn from the judges’ comments and clinic,” said Floetke.

STN asked him how the singers prepared.

“After winter break, we begin learning our festival music in class,” he said. “7th and 8th grade choirs are curricular classes that meet during the day and Girls' Choir is extracurricular and meets once a week before school.”

This is all in preparation for what he said is fast-paced festival experience.

“Once we arrive, choirs are given 10 minutes to warm up,” Floetke said. “Then we head to the auditorium for our performance. We sing for three adjudicators that score us and one that will give us a clinic afterwards. Once we perform we go straight to a clinic with a professional that helps us improve our singing. This is always a favorite for the singers. Lastly, we go into a room and sight-read for one more adjudicator. Sight-reading is where we get to show off our ability to read/sing music that we have never seen before.”

The students were excited about the end results, but for Floetke, their parents and others in Saline schools there’s another angle to the results.

"This was the first festival experience that we have had in three years,” said Floetke. “When COVID-19 hit, we lost this important educational experience for a few years. These students have been working incredibly hard and stuck with singing throughout COVID and I could not be prouder of their accomplishments!"

Saline's 7th Grade Choir, 8th Grade Choir, and the select before school ensemble Girls' Choir received a Division 1 Excellent rating at the festival. photo courtesy of Saline Area Schools