On Feb. 14, hundreds of students from our region will gather here in Marion as part of the Indiana Music Education Association’s 37th annual Circle the State with Song festival.
More than 300 talented young singers from elementaries, middle schools, and junior high schools in Adams, Grant, Huntington, Kosciusko, Wabash, Wells, and Whitley counties will spend the day working with guest clinicians — a chance to build their skill as singers — and then will put on a special performance together.
This concert will start at 3:30 p.m. Feb. 14 on the main stage at the Walton Performing Arts Center at Marion High School, 750 W. 26th St.; it is open to the public, and tickets are $5 (free for ages 5 and younger). Tickets are available at the door starting at 3 p.m. Feb. 14 (half an hour before the show), and will be available online at this site soon: https://circlethestate.imeamusic.org/middle-school. (Tickets purchased online must be presented for admission.)
The festival, which is held at several different sites around the state, exposes young singers to new music and gives them the chance to have a choral experience quite different from the regular school class or performance. Altogether, about 5,000 students around the state typically participate in this annual festival series.
Elementaries participating in the Walton Center performance include Akron, Allen, Bluffton Harrison, Frances Slocum, Justice Intermediate, Kendall, Manchester Intermediate, Northview, Riverview, South Adams, St. Paul Catholic School, and Warsaw. Middle schools/junior highs participating include Bluffton Middle School, Edgewood Middle School, Warsaw Lakeview Middle School, Manchester Junior-Senior High, McCulloch Junior High, RJ Baskett Middle School, South Adams Middle School, Southwood Junior/Senior High, St. Paul Catholic, and Tippecanoe Valley Middle School.
After weeks of practice on their own and at their schools, students will spend most of the day Feb. 14 rehearsing the concert selections with a guest clinician at Marion High School. At our region’s festival, the middle school clinician is Brenda Buchanan, director at Northview High School in Brazil, Indiana, and the elementary clinician is Randi Simons-Miller from Portage Public Schools.
Circle the State with Song began in 1989 as a choral festival for elementary students. In 1991 it expanded to middle school and junior high students. Not only does it provide students the chance to sing challenging choral pieces with peers from around the area, it also provides music teachers an opportunity to observe and learn from the clinicians, and to network with colleagues from around the area.
IMEA’s mission is to support and advance music education in Indiana by representing the united interest of music educators and students and by providing professional leadership and service in music education to enhance the arts in the schools.
Marion students who will be participating in this year’s Circle the State With Song festival are:
Allen Elementary (all fourth grade)
- Zelda Losure
- Tesla Pond
Frances Slocum Elementary (all fourth grade)
- Aaliyah Boyd
- Ca’marielle Boyd
- Mylah Brown
- Terrence Cole
- Jaxx Dagey
- Raa’Von Guy
- Calandra Harvey
- Jaeanna Jones
- Indi Jones
- Jana’ya Marble
- Isaiah Moreno
- ALaura Small
- Chri’John Villareal
- John Walters
Kendall Elementary (all fourth grade)
- Londyn Patterson
- Daxis Thomas
Riverview Elementary (all fourth grade)
- Alaina DeLaGrange
- Addisyn Hickerson
- Lilah Mullins
- Montana Moore
- Olivia Myers
Justice Intermediate School
- Isabela Antonio-Maya, fifth grade
- Princess-Makenzlee Askew, fifth grade
- Naomi Bell, fifth grade
- Brooklyn Boogar, sixth grade
- Makenzie Christie, fifth grade
- Destanee Coffey, fifth grade
- Amiyah Davis, fifth grade
- Leilani Dellinger-Woods, fifth grade
- Ty’Risha Fletcher, sixth grade
- Olivia Gee-Boyd, fifth grade
- Cooper Hamilton, fifth grade
- Jasmine Lauri, fifth grade
- Serenity Lewis, sixth grade
- WillOliver Martinez, sixth grade
- Lena Nelson, fifth grade
- Jeslin Paduga, fifth grade
- Addison Phillips, sixth grade
- Jaelynn Ploger, fifth grade
- Kennedy Polsley, sixth grade
- Raegan Polsley, sixth grade
- Chloe Rayment, fifth grade
- Hannah Reeves, sixth grade
- Chloe Reuzenaar, sixth grade
- Trinity Vugteveen, sixth grade
- Carlie Walters, fifth grade
- Sirayna Washington, fifth grade
- Malaya Williams, fifth grade
McCulloch Junior High School
- Zoey Allen, seventh grade
- Charlie Arenas, seventh grade
- Melissa Carpenter, seventh grade
- Miles Contreras, eighth grade
- Leland Craig, seventh grade
- Antonio Cruz, eighth grade
- Myla Dunston, eighth grade
- Emily Geren, eighth grade
- Leyna Greenwood, eighth grade
- Lorily Greenwood, eighth grade
- Cecilia Hancock, eighth grade
- Jaxon Hardwick, seventh grade
- Cordiell Jordan, seventh grade
- Keyly Lechuga Salvatierra, seventh grade
- Zoe Lewis, seventh grade
- Audrie Mendoza, eighth grade
- Ruby Metz, eighth grade
- Elaine Morgan, seventh grade
- Londyn Nation, seventh grade
- Tavarionna O’Bryant, eighth grade
- Jecca Paduga, eighth grade
- Elisabella Ramirez, eighth grade
- Tae’Lynn Reamer, eighth grade
- Jasmine Sanchez, seventh grade
- Greg Stanley, eighth grade
- Alexa Turner, seventh grade
- Liberty Vugteveen, eighth grade
- Kei’Azyah Walker, seventh grade
- Annibelle Ward, eighth grade
- Micah Wayman, eighth grade
- Eli Wilkinson, eighth grade