The last weekend in January begins a tournament bracket of sorts, as show choirs from schools all over the country begin earning points to move onward and upward in various competitions throughout the region.
Some schools only participate in the local contests, while others use these local and regional festivals as a springboard to compete in national-level competitions in March and April.
Tallassee High School has been known for its show choir program since the late 1990s. Mr. Jerry Cunningham, who was the choral director at THS from 1997-2015, created the show choir program from scratch and, teaching classes by himself with over 100 students at a time, built a dynasty that continues today with three show choirs: Divas (all-female show choir); Gold Edition (all-male show choir); and Voltage (mixed show choir).
While there are still over 200 students participating in choir at Tallassee, there are approximately 70 students who form the heart of the show choir program and who will be competing in regional contests over the next six weeks.
The Capital City Classic is in its 17th year at the Montgomery Performing Arts Centre (MPAC). Over 40 choirs from across the southeast will be appearing in the contest, adjudicated by a distinguished panel of judges known both regionally as well as nationally. The auditorium at MPAC accommodates around 2000 spectators, and this one event is a source of justifiable pride for its organizers as it is the main fundraiser for the year.
Tallassee High School’s Michael Bird has been a part of the festival since it began, as a band director and later as an MC (master of ceremonies), but currently serving as one of the music teachers at THS and an organizer of the event.
"Eufaula, Chelsea, Pell City, Helena, Oxford, Auburn, Enterprise, Oak Mountain, Homewood, Opelika, Pike Road, Jasper, Vestavia Hills, Hoover, and others from within Alabama are coming,” Mr. Bird said. "We also have groups from other southeastern states, including Lakeside, Appling, Fitzgerald, and Tift County coming from Georgia. We’ve had some from Tennessee and Mississippi in the past, too.”
Bird says he is grateful for the support of local businesses who have kept the contest going.
“We have so many people in this community who fell in love with music because of Mr. Bush, Mr. Cunningham, Mr. Watkins, and other music teachers who have been here,” he said. “Mrs. Kelley Hill, our choral director, does a great job and she and I always enjoy putting this program together. The students in Voltage and Divas have been working with Santana Houston as their choreographer, and the Gold Edition guys have been taught by the mother-daughter team of Amanda Glasscock and Sarah Jane Patterson.”
With a music department that is the envy of many schools in Alabama - and now working inside a brand new fine arts complex - Bird says the traditions established by the Tallassee program are expected to continue.
“The city of Tallassee made a $21 million investment in us,” Bird said, “that we would maintain and expand our offerings here. Mrs. Hill and I are fortunate to be a part of a team that also includes band directors Dr. Glasscock and Ms. Perry, as well as elementary music teacher Ms. Knott. And I would be remiss if I fail to mention that without our department administrative assistant Mrs. Debbie Rogers, we wouldn’t be able to do much of anything!”
Tickets for the Capital City Classic are $15.00 and available on GoFan.
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For more information, please contact the school at 334-283-2187 or email debbie.rogers@tcschools.com.