Herbert Hoover High Impact Celebrates First Grand Championship as West Virginia Choirs Win at Home and Abroad

By Tonya Chase, West Virginia contributor

Herbert Hoover celebrates their overall event GC at Cabell Midland, their first in recorded history.

It was an exciting day as twelve show choirs from West Virginia, Ohio and Virginia put on their dancing shoes and competed at the Rhythm in Red Invitational. Hosted by Cabell Midland Rhythm in Red, this competition featured mixed and non-mixed ensembles of all sizes as they competed for an overall grand championship.

The darkness of their “Tell-Tale Heart”-inspired show didn’t dim the performance of Herbert Hoover High Impact as they left the competition as Grand Champions with Best Vocals, Best Choreography, and Best Band in addition to caption awards within the mixed medium division in preliminaries. This is High Impact’s first Grand Championship finish, and with their upward trajectory, could be just the beginning for this medium-sized choir. Herbert Hoover showcases their exceptional individual vocal talent without minimizing the choral sound provided by their ensemble. Choreographed by Tara Tober, High Impact provided unique visuals utilizing the stage to compliment an imbalanced ratio of bass to treble members.

Clean visuals and strong vocals enhanced the storytelling as members of Clover Hill New Dimensions became ghosts frightening away the competition. This Virginia choir finished second overall and first in large division with caption awards. This open competition finish should provide momentum going into the Avon Vocal Invitational in Indiana, where they will be competing in small division and a chance for a finals spot.

Poca Visual Volume provided some lightheartedness to the competition, bringing in the sun with their beach-themed show. Winning first in small division and third overall, Poca’s vocals have always been the strong suit of outfit, often putting them ahead of larger choirs. Visual Volume will celebrate this win as they take the weekend off before competing at Winfield Emerald Classic on March 14.

Rounding out the finals competition, Huntington Illusion came away with their best finish of the season in fourth place, followed by Nitro Showcats and Saint Clairsville St. C Singers.

In addition to Herbert Hoover, other West Virginia choirs continue to impress as

Grand Championship trophies traveled country roads to make their way back to the

mountain state. Hurricane Red Hot took Grand Champion with Best Band, Best

Vocals, and Best Choreography at Voices of the Grove, hosted by Grove City in the Columbus, Ohio metro area. Their single-gender group, Heat Wave, was awarded Grand Champion in the first-ever single-gender finals at this competition, sweeping caption awards as well. Across US 23, Winfield General Admission won the small mixed Grand Championship at the Teays Valley Classic hosted by Teays Valley Prominent Rendition, with Best Band and Choreography, while their womens group Emerald Elegance took another division win with Best Vocals and Best Band. Martinsburg Good Times traveled to the Hanover and Mechanicsburg Festival of Choirs in Virginia, hosted by Hanover Sound FX and Mechanicsburg choirs Madz and New Horizons, to earn Grand Champion in the middle mixed division, coming away with Best Band, Best Choreography and Best Vocals.