Alice LaGrone, Helena High School Choir

The choral program at Helena High began when the school opened 9 years ago. From 2018 to present, the choir program has been under the direction of Alice LaGrone who has served as Alabama Vocal Association District 2 Chair. Both of these directors are actively involved with both the Alabama Vocal Association and the ACDA. Helena High choir members have participated in All State choirs as well as All State Show choir consistently. They also have participated in AMEA Honor Choir multiple years. Helena High combined choirs have competed at SCPA and received superior ratings. Since 2018-19, Choirs and ensembles have received superior ratings at both SCPA and Solo and Ensemble.

 There are multiple choirs at Helena High: an auditioned Chamber Choir, Concert Choir and Spotlight Show Choir. We are currently working on Men’s and Women’s acapella groups.  Since 2018-19, our program has grown from 40 members to 90 members total. Helena Spotlight Show Choir has also competed at Auburn Showchoir Showdown, Capital City Classic, and more. All choirs perform as a combined choir as well as separately for three major concerts during the school year as well as smaller, civic concerts. Helena High began a chapter of Tri-M music honor society in 2017.

 The Helena High Choral classes center on developing, not only great choral vocal production but the development of the student and their potential in today’s society. We talk about the performance as being a way to evoke emotion through story telling of each piece. The classes also spend time working on music theory and sight reading skills. We welcome guest conductors and have worked with Ken Berg and Dr. Brian Kitteridge. We explore different performance spaces in the school for their different resonance possibilities and have already found our favorite hallway in the school.

 The choirs have been a featured performing choir at both University of Montevallo Festival of Voices as well as UAB’s Christmas at the Alys Stephens Center. They have been invited to be a feature choir at MSU Choral Colloquium, Huntingdon College Choir festival, and University of Montevallo’s festival of Voices. Choral students from Helena High have participated in the following collegiate level honor choirs: University of Alabama at Birmingham, Auburn, University of Montevallo, and the University of Alabama.