2023-2024 was a big year for the Kinder HSPVA Vocal Music Department. The faculty continued building on the department’s strong classical music foundation and expanded access to other musical genres. Mr. Jauregui offered a musical theatre studio, Mrs. Pendarvis-Romero taught a songwriting class, and Mrs. Miller-Stone added French to the classical program’s repertoire.
Your gifts to HSPVA Friends made this curriculum expansion possible. Thanks to you, wherever Vocal Music students pursue singing after Kinder HSPVA, they will have a solid foundation of skills and knowledge of styles.
HERE ARE SOME OF THE PROGRAMS YOU MADE POSSIBLE THIS YEAR WITH YOUR GIFTS:
- A five-month residency with professional artists from Houston Grand Opera
- Fundamental Piano Skills with John Amar (Instrumental ’09)
- Pop Show choreography and Dancing for Singers with Brooke Barnes-Meeks (Dance ’97)
- Collaborative pianists for sight reading rehearsals and evaluations, senior recitals, and concerts
- Sheet music (A LOT of sheet music!) for all ensembles
- Annual subscription to Noteflight software for music theory courses
- Registration fees and transportation to UIL evaluation
- Financial aid for the 11th and 12th grade team-building trip to Camp Cho-Yeh in Livingston, Texas
YOUR IMPACT IS CLEAR FROM THESE OUTSTANDING STUDENT SUCCESSES:
- The department earned five UIL Sweepstakes! Mixed Chorale, Treble Chorale, Concert Singers, Tenor/Bass Singers, and Treble Singers received superior scores at the UIL Concert and Sight Reading Evaluation.
- The national YoungArts competition recognized Lali Snell ’24 for Popular Voice and alumna Olivia Gonzales ’23 for Classical Voice.
- 10 students sang with the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) Region 23 Choir. These students advanced to Pre-Area, the penultimate round of the Texas All-State Choir auditions. Sarah Vanlandingham ’26 earned a seat in the Texas All-State Treble Choir. Gabriel Al-Bochi ’26 made it to the final round of auditions. Both are incredibly high honors for singers across the state.
- Students were accepted into prestigious summer programs, including Juilliard Summer Voice and HGO’s Bauer Summer Studio.
Congratulations to the students selected to sing with the TMEA Region 23 Choir!
SPECIAL GUEST ARTISTS
World-renowned countertenor John Holiday led a masterclass and performed for 11th and 12th graders. Holiday, a classically-trained opera singer, sang a varied repertoire including jazz, a German Lied, an English art song, and a Lauryn Hill song.
Broadway performer Jarvis B. Manning, Jr. (Vocal ’05) gave a Q&A for students about his career on Broadway and beyond.
Dr. James D. Rodriguez from Texas Christian University led a masterclass and gave critical feedback to four senior vocalists.
A FULL SEASON OF PERFORMANCES
There were fabulous performances this year, including the Winter and Spring Concerts, the Pop Show, Limelight, Madrigals and YP holiday gigs, the senior recitals, and all the class recitals.
CONGRATULATIONS, CLASS OF 2024!
