Clover Hill Drops the Green Flag on Virginia's 2026 Show Choir Season

By Cole McConnell, Virginia contributor

Stock photo: Ione Berken

As the national show choir scene hits its midseason stride this weekend, the 2026 Virginia circuit is just getting underway as the season kicks off at the Clover Hill Mid-Atlantic Show Choir Spectacular (MASS). A competition that had its inaugural hosting in 2009, there have been many choirs who have lifted the grand championship trophy over the years. Even though choir attendance is lower than usual, this competition should produce some exciting results, especially since the previous two years' winners will be facing off in the large mixed division, as well as the choir who hasn’t lost their division at this competition since 2011. 

The Lineup

Friday 

Middle School: Fairfield Middle “Opulence” 

Small Womens: Mechanicsville “New Horizons”

Medium Womens: Kecoughtan “Touch of Jade” 

Large Womens: Manchester “Touch of Swing”, Midlothian “City Lights”

Saturday

Small Mixed: Poquoson “Evolution”

Medium Mixed: Mechanicsville “Madz”, Powhatan “Resonance”, Musselman “Kaleidoscope” (WV)

Large Mixed: Kecoughtan “Harbor Lights”, Manchester “Capital Swing”, Midlothian “Just For Show”, Matoaca “High Impact”

The first competition of every season is always thrilling and allows choirs to see all the blood, sweat, and tears begin to pay off as they lift their trophy with glory. Expect the Mid-Atlantic Show Choir Spectacular to produce some exciting results in the state for lovers.

One of the distinctive qualities about this competition is the unique format. While most competitions that offer finals are solely one day, the MASS offers a two-day finals format. As long as the structure remains the same as previous years, the highest-placing group from Friday and the top four mixed choirs will square off in finals to conclude the day on Saturday. 

Small womens choir Mechanicsville New Horizons will look to get on their feet after a bit of a rough 2025 where they snagged a second and two fourth places, while struggling to win any captions. Moving up one division, Kecoughtan Touch of Jade will search to reappear in their 2024 form, when they took home a first place. While these choirs look to set the tone for their upcoming seasons, all eyes will be on the large division battle between Manchester Touch of Swing and Midlothian City Lights. Touch of Swing took home one win in 2025 compared to a goose egg for City Lights; however, Midlothian did place second overall at this very competition last year. The battle for the sole spot in finals will be an intriguing storyline to watch Friday night in preparation for Saturday. 

As the focus shifts to Saturday, expect the competition to ramp up as eight choirs compete for the final four final spots. The medium mixed division will own three of these spots, two whom of which placed in the finals at this very competition last season. Mechanicsville Madz took home third overall while Musselman Kaleidoscope finished fourth, also taking home Best Choreography. Although Powhatan Resonance may seem like the underdog of this bunch, they were able to take down Mechanicsville at a later 2025 competition. If one of these choirs exceeds expectations they could be a sneaky under-the-radar group to steal a spot in finals.

The large mixed tier will definitely be the highlight of the weekend, as all four choirs have something to prove in their own right. Manchester Capital Swing, who many people consider to be the favorite, and rightly so, will look to kick off their season strong and set the tone as they prepare for stiffer competition down the road. Even though Capital Swing won this competition in 2024, they haven't been in the win column a ton since then, having only one in seven competitions. Kecoughtan Harbor Lights will be competing in the large division for the first time since 2015 and will look to continue their rapid rise through the ranks in the Virginia circuit. The fifth place choir from the 2025 Mid-Atlantic Show Choir Spectacular, Midlothian Just for Show, will look to continue their finals streak for this competition after making it the last two years. 

Although there will be much talent on the stage, there is one group that cannot be overlooked, Matoaca High Impact. This choir has, quite frankly, dominated this competition over the years and will look to continue that in 2026. The last two times High Impact has attended MASS (2023 and 2025) they have taken the home the grand championship, nor have they lost their division at Clover Hill since a mind-blowing 2011. 

Every fan of show choir in the Virginia commonwealth will have their eyes peeled watching to see who comes out on top to start off the season. Will it be a powerhouse like Manchester Capital Swing, or maybe Matoaca High Impact, who seems to never lose at Clover Hill? What about a powerhouse womens group taking it all, or even a choir coming out of nowhere to grab a caption? No matter what the results may be, Virginia show choir performers, directors, parents, and fans better grab their popcorn, sit back, and enjoy the shows that are about to unfold in front of their eyes.

Predictions

Predictions represent the opinion of this contributor and not of HomeRoom Show Choir.

GC - Manchester “Capital Swing” (BV/BC)

1RU - Matoaca “High Impact” (BB) 

2RU - Manchester “Touch of Swing”

3RU - Midlothian “Just For Show”

4RU - Kecoughtan “Harbor Lights”