Photo/Eric Ayres Members of the Ravenswood High School Rave Review pose with medals and trophies after sweeping the finals and claiming the title of grand champion of the 2020 St. C. Division III Show Choir Invitational on Saturday at Buckeye Local High School.

RAYLAND – Buckeye Local High School was packed with visitors from the far reaches of Ohio and West Virginia this weekend at the annual St. C. Division III Show Choir Invitational.

A total of 11 show choirs from schools located everywhere from Cincinnati to southern West Virginia were on hand with their families and their fans. All of the well-traveled guests had one goal in mind: to bring home the top title of grand champion.

At the end of the day-long competition, the top five scoring choirs battled for the big trophies during the evening’s final round of competition. Despite close scoring among groups with wildly entertaining shows, it was the Rave Review of Ravenswood High School that not only claimed the title of grand champion, but literally swept the final round, earning trophies for best vocal sound, best choreography and best show concept, as well as the award for best costumes during the daytime award presentation.

Based along the Ohio River in Ravenswood, W.Va., the Ravenswood High School group traveled 130 miles upstream to compete in the event. It was their first visit to the invitation presented each year by the St. C. Singers and St. Clairsville Vocal Music Boosters.

“What makes this competition special is something we decided to do six years ago, and that’s to make it especially for small schools,” said Wayne Berk, director of St. C. Singers and head of the vocal music programs at St. Clairsville High School. “They all have to have school populations of under 750, and that’s what makes it unique, because lots of times you have divisions in show choir, but all of the big trophies end up going to all of the big schools. It’s really cool for everybody to be on the same playing field, come out and be able to compete for the big trophies, make the finals and do all the stuff that most smaller schools don’t always get to do. You can do it at this competition.”

Joyce Jingle, veteran vocal music educator in the Ohio Valley and head of the choral program at Wheeling Park High School, has served on the judges’ panel for the St. C. Division III Show Choir Invitational over the past three years. Jingle said it’s no surprise that fans – particularly parents of show choir students – get caught up in the whirlwind show business excitement during these competitions.

“It’s just really entertaining,” Jingle said. “And the parents are just as involved as a parent who has a child in football or any sport. They are so supportive. I think the parents are super proud of their student’s accomplishments, and it’s so much fun to watch your own kid perform on stage.”

Show choir is a unique program that delivers many different elements of vocal, visual and performing arts all at once, Jingle noted.

“It really is a coming together of all of the arts,” she said. “It’s the theater aspect, and you have an art aspect, you have the dance aspect, and you have the choir. I always tell the groups as I judge them that first and foremost, they area a choir. The choreography needs to enhance the message and help deliver the message. But I think it just brings everything together. The best programs do that while maintaining the integrity of everything, from the dance and the vocals to the instrumental combo, costuming and the whole works.”

Each choir comes up with a theme to their season’s show and integrates songs that best compliment their presentation. They work for months during the school year to develop their show with choreography, sets and props, costumes and more in preparation for the winter competition season.

Choirs at this year’s St. C. DIII competition delivered a mix bag of clever themes with their shows. Among the choirs that brought the crowd to its feet Saturday was Jonathan Alder High School’s High Society from Plain City, Ohio, which took an experimental approach and brought their audiences inside the lab for their “Weird Science” show. Ada High School’s Varsity Singers from Ada, Ohio, had gave the crowd a large dose of caffeine that was brimming with fun in their show “Coffee Break.” Performing in exhibition only and not competing, host choir St. C. Singers gave the final full-production performance of their award-winning 2020 pirate-themed show “Dead Men Tell No Tales.”

But it was Ravenswood’s slick and classy show came with tuxedos and gowns, top-notch vocals and big ensemble dance numbers that brought down the house.

“Our judges were saying ‘wow,’ for small schools, the finalists were just packed and loaded with talent,” Berk said. “The caliber has been tremendous. For our top five finalist, it was really neck and neck, really close.”

With Ravenswood taking home the top prize, the finalist also earning trophies were first runner-up Jonathan Alder, second runner-up Milton-Union High School’s Center Stage, third runner-up Ada, and fourth runner-up the Sissonville High School Touch of Class.

South Harrison Middle School’s Sound Check took the title of grand champion in the middle school division. Award for best band went to Milton-Union. Best tech crew was earned by Poca High School’s Visual Volume. The people’s choice award went to Jonathan Alder. Best female soloist was Rachel Lee of Licking Valley High School’s Vocal Impact, and best male vocalist went to Randall Tolley of the New Lexington High School Panthertones.

Also competing were the Hawks in Harmony from South Harrison High School and The Silhouettes of Norwood High School. The St. C. Little Singers and St. C. Sweet Harmony also gave exhibition performances while judges’ votes were tallied.

Visitors to the annual event have noted that the St. C. Division III Invitational is always a well-organized and exceptionally entertaining event, offering in the world of show choir competitions some of the best accommodations, from the cafeteria menu to theater sound system and overall guest experience.

“It’s a fun atmosphere, and the kids have a great time here,” said Jami Dellifield, show choir parent from Ada. “We are a very small school, probably the smallest school here. We just don’t have the numbers on stage or the budget that a lot of other schools do. This is a fair playing field that I think is as good as it gets.”

Organizers said an event of this magnitude takes almost a year’s worth of planning.

“We start all the way back near the beginning of the school year in September, getting people together, getting information out to all of the choirs,” Berk said. “It’s just a tremendous amount of work in January and February to get to this date, and then within the last week, everybody’s collectively put in hundreds of hours to make it all go.”

Berk thanked the school board, administration and parents for working collectively to make the event a success.

“We have a tremendous boosters organization,” he said. “It’s an army of 150 volunteers and all 50 kids working all day long.”