Following a runner-up finish at nationals in 2023 and winning three of their four competitions last year, HHS show choir directors and performers expect another successful season this year.
This show choir officially begins its competitive season at the Albertville Diamond Classic on Feb. 1, and Homewood’s show will feature new stage technology, show themes and different competitions.
The school’s three choir groups are The Network, Nexus and Continuum. The Network is a male and female group made up of grades 10-12. Nexus is the school’s all-female group, and Continuum is another mixed group of only freshman students.
“ Nexus last year had a phenomenal season,” said Choir Director Byron Mosquera.“The expectations for them are just so high. I feel like every year we’re pushing Continuum a little bit more, and the same thing for all three groups. Not very many groups in the country can say that all three of the groups have made finals in competitions.”
Mosquera and co-director Cody McDonald find inspiration for show themes in real life for things to base their shows on.
For example, McDonald is writing a show about the aspirations of a young girl to become an Olympic gymnast. He said he was inspired by his own 6-year-old daughter who asked him while they watched the summer Olympics if her living-room cartwheels were good enough to take her to the global competition someday.
“In my head, I’m thinking, ‘what if I have a show about this?’,” McDonald said. “It shows her as a young kid, getting older with all the things that happen in her life and where she will eventually end up.”
McDonald is constantly looking for inspiration to incorporate into shows, even when the groups at Homewood don’t use the pitched themes.
“Sometimes we design shows that we don’t use, that we’re going to sell to other schools to use,” McDonald said.
Continuum’s show theme for this year is “Lost Cities,” and Nexus is inspired by a real-life painting. The Network’s show is based on the California-based music festival, Coachella, fitting perfectly with their last competition of the season in Los Angeles.
Homewood’s show choir department has stepped up the technology that they incorporate into shows for this year.
“ Historically, we have done very little in terms of development,” McDonald says. “For over the past three years, we’ve slowly added elements.”
The additions include LED light towers, a new sound system and TV graphics on stage.
Mosquera and McDonald are preparing Nexus and Network for Nationals in 2025.
“ We’re pushing the kids, we’re pushing them to their limits,” Mosquera said. “We’re just trying to make them understand that to be the top in the nation, this is what it takes, and Homewood has made a name for themselves.”
Students feel the pressure but nonetheless are excited about what’s to come.
Nexus Captain Corie Goldsmith says she is “proud of the community her group has built.”
“ Year after year, Nexus always comes together, and the cattiness that teenage girls typically have just disappears,” Goldsmith said. “I look around the choir room, and I know that I can go up to any one of those girls and talk to them about anything.”
Competitions began Jan. 18 and will go through March 16, with Nexus traveling to Glenwood in Chatham, Ill., and Network going to Los Angeles, Calif., with many local competitions in between.
