Show Choir

Swingsingers is a 30-40 member mixed auditioned show choir under the direction of Maddy Kozar with assistance from fellow BHS alumni Addie Bloom and Maddy Misiura and high school choir director Peter Barsch. They compete in four competitions each year and also perform for Showtime in the BFAC every year. Auditions will be held in May, to build the group for the following year. Students must be enrolled in Choir, Band, or Orchestra during the day in order to be eligible for Swingsingers.

The show choir combo is made up of 8-12 student instrumentalists and perform along with the show choir at all of their performances. Each year, we need a drum set player, 2 piano/keyboard players, 1 guitar, 1 bass guitar, and several wind players (especially Trumpet, Trombone, and various saxophone players). 

24-25 Swingsingers! Please read the contract carefully with your parents and sign it together. Pay special attention to the calendar and the financial stuff, and give as much detail as possible to your schedule conflicts. It is posted as an assignment in the Show Choir Auditions Google Classroom, but you can also access it here.

SUMMER CHOIR CAMPS – there are a number of great summer camps available for students. The Music Buffs offer scholarships to ANY student interested in attending. Here’s some great ones we recommend:

• Show Choir Camps of America – hosted at Millikin University or Heidelberg University (Show choir, Vocal Jazz, Pop Solo singing, Dance)
• Illinois School Youth Music camp – hosted at University of Illinois (band, jazz, commercial music, musical theatre, hip-hop production, and more!)
• Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp – hosted at Blue Lake in Michigan. (Band, Orchestra, art, dance, writing, jazz, theatre)

Info about 2023-2024: 

• What a wonderful season! Here are several batches of videos & pictures here for people to see. Some of them are from our student photographers Olivia Naylor & Seamus Samsami, but we will also post pictures by some professional photographers. Whenever possible, please credit the photographer if you share any of these pictures. 
  • Senior Goodbyes
  • 2/10/24 Manteno Main Event (📸Olivia Naylor)
  • 2/16 Rehearsal & El Paso Gridley Showdown 2/17/24  (📸Olivia Naylor)
  • 3/8 Rehearsal & Craig Spotlight Spectacular 3/9/24 (📸Olivia Naylor)
  • 3/9/2024, Craig HS  Professional photos available for purchase
  • Combo photos (📸Olivia Naylor)
  • Videos from Showtime, Night 2 (📸Thor Olberg) 
    • Chromatics
    • Swingsingers (zoom on soloists)
    • Soloists: Sydney W, Olivia N, Erin C, Eli R, Erin M,  Daniel W, Abi E, RJ W,  Lily M
  • Videos from Showtime (📸Steve Mefford)
    • Chromatics 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
  • Professional Photos from Showtime -(📸 Danielle Saunders)
    • Photo gallery is here  
    • You may download pictures or order prints from her website. 
    • I have had some trouble viewing this gallery on my district computer, but you should be able to access it. If you have any trouble accessing, downloading, or ordering pictures, please contact her studio at (630) 345-6977.
    • Also, please be aware that  the logo that appears on the photos will not be there once they download them.

Questions about show choir or show choir combo can be directed to Mr. Barsch.

Link to slideshows of 2022-23 pictures.

• Milton: Photo credit, Gracie Bloom
• Crete-Monee: Photo credit, Gracie Bloom, 
• Chesterton: Photo credit, Gracie Bloom, 
• Chicagoland Showcase: Photo credit, Gracie Bloom, 
• Showtime (Night 1, Night 2): Photo credit, Gracie Bloom

Here are some Chesterton pictures by the host’s photographer, Barb Von Kozy. If you use pictures from her album or one of Gracie’s albums, please give credit to the photographers!