Avon Lake Chorale

The Avon Lake Chorale, under the direction of William G. Zurkey, is the foundation of the Avon Lake High School Choral Music Department. Avon Lake is a city in the state of Ohio of approximately 25,000 (as of the 2005 censusGR|2) people located 17 miles (27 km) west of Cleveland off the shores of Lake Erie.

Chorale

The Chorale, the highest choir level at Avon Lake High School, is a select 80 member ensemble made up of high school juniors, seniors, and sophomores. In addition to earning numerous superior ratings at Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) State Contests, Regional and National Choral Festivals, the Chorale has been a featured choir at the Kodaly Music Educator's Association Central Regional Convention in Cleveland, Carnegie Hall in New York City, and the Mad River Choral Festival at Wright State University. They have performed in concert at The Royal Academy of Music, Glasgow, Scotland; St. Paul's Cathedral, London; St. Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, Scotland; Orchestra Hall, Chicago; Cleveland State University, Kent State University, Ohio University, Westminster College, Pennsylvania; and Riverside Cathedral in New York. The Chorale also performs regularly with the Cleveland Pops Orchestra under the direction of Carl Topilow.

The Avon Lake Chorale performed at the OMEA Annual Professional Conference in 1995, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2006.

Merples

An elite subset of the choir was formed when two ensembles were merged (The Mermen and The Mermaids) forming the Merples. The merples are a 16-member group that performs many public and private concerts especially during the holiday season. The ensemble is highly praised. Traditionally, on Saint Valentine's Day the merples sing, as requested by students, to other students for a fee. During the lunch period students may purchase a "Merplegram" for their boyfriend, girlfriend, friend, and even teachers and administrators. The merples have been on all local Cleveland television stations (WKYC, WEWS, WOIO, and WJW).

Chorale Wake-Up's

Every May current chorale members go and "wake-up" new chorale members. Chorale members are assigned a student and then form groups of three or four to go wake the new members up. Students are dressed in costumes and written on t-shirts usually including a phrase similar to "I've made Chorale" or "I'm in Chorale." Students wear their outfit through out the school day to display their entrance into this (allegedly) prestigious group. The outfit usually contains and inside joke between the waking member and woken member. They are treated to a breakfast provided by the Avon Lake Chorale Boosters. New members officially begin participation in the choir the following August with the start of a new school year.

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