3rd Annual MDUSD Elementary Honor Choir and MS Choir concert highlights music education

Guest column by Michelle Hackel, MDUSD Music Teacher

The 3rd Annual Elementary Honor Choir and Middle School Choir was held Monday, March 24th at Concord High School and featured selected students from 13 elementary school choirs along with choirs from Pleasant Hill, Foothill and El Dorado middle schools. The concert also included an opening number by the Concord High School Honey Tones.

Mount Diablo Music Education Foundation (MDMEF) sponsors this event annually. MDMEF, established in 2009, has given over $217,000.00 in grants and other financial support to music programs throughout MDUSD, and purchased music for the singers and provided event T-shirts for the elementary students for this concert. Foundation funds also brought in guest conductor Katherine Nash-Coan, who holds a Masters degree in Choral Conducting, is a former MDUSD teacher and the current choir director in the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District. Her energy and talent in bringing singers together was evident in the avid attention she received from over 100 fourth- and fifth-grade students from across the district during the pre-concert rehearsal, their first time ever singing together.

Concord High’s Honey Tones, directed by event host Anthony West, sang “Jom-Ayuh-Mari!” by Tracy Wong, followed by Dawn O’Connell conducting the Pleasant Hill MS Choir in “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing,” by Mark Hayes. Then Sally Anderson took the stage to lead her Foothill MS Griffin Choir in “The Dream Keeper,” by Rollo Dillworth, and her Concert Choir in “Dulaman,” by Cristi Cary Miller. The El Dorado MS Choir, led by Andy La, presented a haunting rendition of “In This Ancient House,” by Ruth Morris Gray. The Elementary Honor Choir sang two songs: “All the Beautiful Colors,” arranged by Mary Donnelly and George L.O. Strid, and “I Met a Bird,” by Jim Papoulis. Finally, all the choirs took the stage together, joined also by singers from Kenneth Hutchinson’s Oak Grove MS Choir, to conclude with an inspiring performance of “Sisi Ni Moja (We Are One),” by Jacob Neverud.

This concert brings MDUSD students together to celebrate and share the joy of singing. The event would not have been possible without the dedication of Bonnie Shea, Lead Teacher for the district’s Elementary Vocal and General Music team. In addition to Shea, elementary music teachers who brought singers to the event this year included Michelle Hackel, Jessica Gourlay, Emily Blackshore, Catherine Grant, Amanda Smythe, Danielle Haffner, David Wright (who accompanied on the flute) and Stella Brown (who performed as a collaborative pianist). Richard Lyon was present to assist, and the audience included District Office administrators Kellie Hoover and Erin DeMartini, as well as MDMEF Board Members. 

The annual concert provides teachers with a chance for meaningful collaboration, the families and community members the opportunity to see the value of choral music education, and the singers, the benefit and challenge of participating in a large, high profile performance experience. We especially love to see how inspired our younger singers are by seeing the choral possibilities in their future at the middle and high school.

Guest Conductor Katherine Nash-Coan leads MDUSD combined choirs in March 24, 2025 performance.