At the 2018 UIL Choir Competition, held Friday, April 6 of this year at Keller High School, the Timber Creek High School Choir program exceeded expectations, as all four participating choirs were awarded sweepstakes for their performances. Though the past few months have been a difficult transition, our TCHS Choir students worked incredibly hard before, after, and during school to achieve the highest possible scores from the UIL judges.
Prior to UIL, the choirs got a rare opportunity to work with Z. Randall Stroope, composer of one of the Varsity Mixed choir’s concert pieces “Lamentations of Jeremiah” and the Varsity Women’s piece “Song to the Moon.”
“It was great to hear from the composers own mouth of how he wants his music to be interpreted and performed,” TCHS Choir Director Stephan Evans commented. “Once he explained the text and it’s emotional understanding, it completely changed our approach to the performance of this masterful work.”
Even with that incredible experience under their belt, our Falcon Choirs faced an intimidating panel of judges at UIL. Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Vocal division chair, Derrick Brookins was an intimidating judge to face. A well accomplished musician and educator in addition to his TMEA leadership, performing for Brookins “was especially nerve wracking but yet an honor,” according to Mr. Evans. Brookins left this comment on one of his score sheets for a Timber Creek Choir: “I have no words but wonderful, beautiful, heartfelt.”
The choir program has gone through some difficult transitions throughout the last few months, but both the students and director were striving to do their best. Mr. Evans applauded the dedication of his students and their growing bond saying, “There is a certain level of trust and marriage between performer and conductor to really make the connection strong.”
Congratulations to Mr. Evans and the entire TCHS choir program on their incredible successes this year, and good luck in the future.
Results for TCHS Choir UIL Competition:
Varsity Mixed: 1 1 2 On Stage, 1 1 1 in Sight reading
Varsity Tenor Bass: 1 1 1 On Stage, 1 1 1 in sight reading
Varsity Women: 1 1 1 On Stage, 1 1 1 in sight reading.
Junior Varsity Women: 1 1 1 On Stage, 1 1 1 in sight reading.