by Colette M. Armijo
RATON — Ten excited Raton High School teenagers left for Los Alamos on Friday, October 30th to participate in the North Central New Mexico Music Educators Association (NCNMMEA) 2015 Honors Clinic. These students were selected for the honors choir from those enrolled in choir as part of Raton High School’s curriculum. This year’s choir has a range of sopranos, baritones and altos.
Aspen Community Magnet School, Capital High School, Capshaw Middle School, De Vargas Middle School, Desert Academy, El Dorado Academy, Gonzales Community School, Los Alamos Middle and High School, New Mexico School for the Arts, Ortiz Middle School, Pojoaque Valley Middle and High School, Raton High School, Santa Fe High School and St. Michael’s High School were all participants in this year’s Honors Clinic.
Students from all participating schools spent Friday and Saturday learning new music and performance material, which also involved choreography under three high qualified and experienced clinicans. Middle School Honor Choir was led by Dr. Regina Carlow who is an Associate Dean for Student Affairs at the University of New Mexico and an Associate Professor of Music Education. High School Treble Honor Choir was led by Carla Erikson who has been a violinist since she was 15 years old and played with Bozeman Symphony in Bozeman, Montana. Becky Talbott led the High School Mixed Honor Choir. She has spent seven years as the Director of Choral Activities at Rio Rancho High School where she leads four ensembles. The two day clinic filled with hard work culminated with a concert featuring the performances by the now blended choirs made up of melodious student voices from all participating schools.
Raton High School Honors Choir participated as a Class A choir having between 1-150 members. Kerry Hutchinson guided Raton High School Honors Choir with the invaluable assistance of Linda Trice, who also provides piano accompaniment. This is Hutchinson’s third year of working with both the high school and middle school choirs. He continues to be impressed with the progress of the members of the choir and enjoys fine tuning the naturally harmonious voices of his students.
