Vocal Music

Kennedy singers is one of eight choral ensembles at Kennedy. If you are a ninth grader at Kennedy, this is the choir you will be in! As our beginning mixed choral ensemble, we emphasize the basics of choral singing through sectionals, sight-reading, solfege, solo singing, all while having a lot of fun. Kennedy singers participates in three concerts throughout the year and state large group festival.

Kennedy chorale is composed of 10th, 11th, and 12th grade treble voices. Chorale performs more complex choral literature while growing as individual and ensemble singers. This ensemble participates in three concerts throughout the year and state large group festival.

Concert choir is composed of 10th, 11th, and 12th grade mixed voices at Kennedy. Concert choir performs very high level mixed choral literature and has received the highest rating at State Large Group Contest for most of the last 50 years. Throughout the year, concert choir participates in three concerts and state large group festival.

Chamber choir is an extremely select ensemble that specializes in music written for smaller choirs from every musical era. Chamber choir performs at school concerts, assemblies, and many community events each year. The chamber choir has a long tradition of performing holiday music to many audiences and performs frequently in December.

Moonlight Express is a select ensemble of 12-16 voices focusing on vocal jazz and contemporary music. Moonlight regularly performs at school and community events, in addition to educational jazz festivals and workshops. Moonlight has a proud history of success, including 10+ years of being selected as a finalist for the Iowa vocal jazz championships.

Chanteurs is a ninth and 10th grade mixed show choir at Kennedy. The group contains future members of Protege and Happiness and provides exposure to the fundamentals of singing, dancing, and performance skills. Chanteurs is directed by Ann Brunson. Backup band is directed by Lesley Fleer. The group is choreographed by Kari Dummermuth and Damon Brown. Membership in Kennedy singers and an audition are required for enrollment.

Protege is our intermediate treble voice show choir at Kennedy. Members are 10th-12th grade singers in Kennedy chorale. This junior varsity show choir is directed by Ann Brunson, choreographed by Kari Dummermuth and Damon Brown, with backup band direction by Ben Feuerhelm. Membership in Kennedy chorale and an audition are required for enrollment.

Happiness, Inc. is the flagship, varsity-level show choir at Kennedy High School. Formed with the opening of Kennedy in the fall of 1967, it is the oldest show choir west of the Mississippi River. Happiness participates in a full schedule of holiday and spring appearances, performing for school events and competing in show choir events throughout Iowa and the midwest. Happiness competes nationally every other year at show choir nationals in Nashville, TN, and has been named grand champion of the event. The group is directed by Storm Ziegler, choreographed by Damon Brown and Randy Sage, with combo direction by Ben Feuerhelm. Membership in concert choir and an audition are required for enrollment.

If you want to sing at Kennedy, you need to enroll in a class called Kennedy singers. You may see it listed as “high school singers.” There is no audition required.

Once you are signed up for Kennedy Singers, then you are eligible to try out for our ninth grade show choir, Chanteurs.
If you are interested in Chanteurs, sign-up for “Show Choir-C” on your class request form. Auditions are required for admission to Chanteurs.

Kennedy singers and Chanteurs only take up one period out of your school day as they are both 0.5 credit classes and meet during the same period of the day.

You may be wondering if you can participate in choir/show choir and other activities at the same time. The answer is yes! Coaches, teachers, and directors work together to minimize and deal with conflicts that arise. We even help you deal with the conflict! On your audition form, you will be able to indicate which activities you want to participate in and tell us which ones take priority for you. If we have a concern about a conflict, we will talk with you about it before you are cast in the group. If you list a conflict and we don’t talk to you about it…that means it really isn’t a problem! (We’ve been doing this a long time and know about how many activities schedules work already.)

If you are wondering how to make choir fit in your schedule over four years, view examples below of how easy it is to make it all work!

View examples

10th-12th grade students are eligible to participate in every choir we offer.

The first step for every sophomore, junior, or senior singer at Kennedy is to enroll in a core choir. Your choices are Kennedy Chorale (10th-12th grade treble voices) or Concert Choir (10th-12th mixed voices). Kennedy Chorale does not require an audition. Concert Choir does require an audition.
Every singer is required to be in one of these choirs before they can enroll in Chamber Choir, Moonlight Express, Protégé, or Happiness, Inc.

Your initial audition for Concert Choir also counts as your initial audition for Chamber Choir, Moonlight Express, Protégé, and/or Happiness, Inc. Whatever choirs you check on your audition sheet are the ones for which you will be considered. Our specialty and show choirs might require additional auditions, which are called recall auditions.

Show choirs are competitive singing and dancing groups that prepare and perform shows consisting of a variety of music and dance. Groups compete against each other in events that run from January to March each year. Our groups also perform several times here at Kennedy, starting in November. The rehearsal/learning process begins each August with the start of school.
Students must participate in a vocal audition and a dance audition. There may be recall auditions, particularly when there are many candidates for a small number of spots.
There is a cost to participate in show choir. We offer many opportunities to fund raise to pay for your choir fees.