By Haley Riemer-Peltz

The Lincoln-Sudbury Chamber Singers, Orchestra and Concert Band won the gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively, at the MICCA Festival, held at Norwood-Coakley Middle School on the weekend of April 4th-6th.
The Chamber Singers also earned invitations to sing at Symphony Hall and, later, at New York’s legendary Carnegie Hall, under the direction of the composer John Rutter.
The Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductor’s Association holds an annual concert festival to “encourage and support high performance standards by high school, middle school, and elementary school musical organizations,” says the association.
MICCA Concert Festivals support and facilitate the improvement of a group’s musical standards by providing musical adjudication during performances. While the group performs, the judges record their comments over the song, so that when the song is played back the performers can hear their critiques for each specific point in the performance. Following the performance, the judges hold an instructory clinic for each group.
Participating in MICCA also gives the chance to hear many performances by other groups and to experience a wide variety of musical literature and arrangements.
The quotas for repertoire require that each chorus prepare three selections to be performed within the alotted time of twenty minutes. Ensembles who wish to place for medal awards must perform one composition from MICCA’s required repertoire list.
The Chamber Singers, or Chambz, chose a French madrigal called “Mon Coeur Se Recommande a Vous” for their required piece. They also performed a contemporary Latin piece called “Lux Arumque,” and another madrigal called “Mother I Will Have a Husband.” Thanks to their selection of challenging arrangements, beautiful blend of music, and crazysexycool dynamic, the L-S Chambz won a gold medal.
The Orchestra performed “Allegro for Strings,” by G.F. Handel, “Shell Adagio,” by N. Bernstein, and “Scheherazade,” by N. Rimsky-Korsakov. These three selections showed off the Orchestra’s superb range as it took the judges through several different styles and moods of classical music. The Orchestra’s excellent performance earned them a silver medal.
The Large Band Ensemble performed “Nalukataq,” by Carl Strommen, “Irish Rhapsody,” by Clare Grundman, and “Fairest of the Fair,” by John Philip Sousa. The Concert Band chose challenging pieces and pulled them all off, despite the group’s large size. The Band received a bronze medal for their solid showcase.
Then, an instructional clinic ran through each group’s songs, fixing the problems that came up during the performance. All the participants embraced the opportunity to receive personal attention from the judges.
Chambz was one of only six choral groups to receive an invitation to sing at Symphony and Carnegie Hall. All in all, the Concert Band, Orchestra and Chamber Singers all did an exceptional job at MICCA and look forward to more success next year.