Congratulations to the following 33 students from grades sixth through ninth who were recently selected for participation in the 37th annual Opus Honor Choir Festival. Gavin Anderson, Mitchell Covington, Sloane Johnson, Rowan Slaymaker, Hanna Turner, Kate Vavricek, Adalynn Whitman, Alexis Boren, Fiona Calcara, Teagan Finn, Josie Panos, Marlena Rodenberg, Clara Vavricek, Eden Voight, Emery Willems, Jack Bauer, Caleb Bausch, Levi Dausener, Daniel Dye, Andrew Errington, Rowan Jensen, Isaiah Lewis, Camden Meyer, Henry Mueller, Beck Oesterle, Zion Safo, Hagen Wilkins, Eleanor Dye, Augustus Johnson, Chester Rood, Reagan Slaymaker, Jackson Voight and Micah Young were all part of over 2400 students were nominated by their directors for 720 positions in the four Opus Honor Choirs. Selections were made by means of a recorded audition.
There were five sets of siblings from Mount Vernon who made the Opus Honor Choirs this year. Sloane and Augustus Johnson, Rowan and Reagan Slaymaker, Kate and Clara Vavricek, Daniel and Eleanor Dye, and Eden and Jackson Voight.
Guest conductors of the choirs include Tami Meiners, Carroll Community School District, Fifth and Sixth Grade Honor Choir; Thad Wilkins, Mount Vernon Community Schools, Seventh & Eighth Grade Bass Clef Honor Choir; Abby Sheppard, Sioux City Community Schools, Seventh & Eighth Grade Treble Clef Honor Choir; and Matt Walker, Iowa City Community School District, Ninth Grade Mixed Honor Choir. The 2023 Opus Honor Choirs will perform at 4 p.m. Nov. 16 in C.Y. Stephens Auditorium in the Iowa State Center in Ames. The Opus Honor Choir Festival is made possible by the Iowa Choral Directors Association, Inc.