Instagram

‘Best Choir’ Award for Celia Cruz High School

Celia Cruz Bronx H.S. of Music choir after their big victory. (Photo courtesy Wildlife Conservation)

The Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music is ringing in the New Year with the title “Best Choir in New York City” after winning the Bronx Zoo’s inaugural SING! For Wildlife competition. The Hard Rock Café sponsored the event, which featured 250 students from seven schools.

“Besides being a wonderful opportunity to perform, the students were able to see that all the hard work they put in to develop their repertoire, technique, and musicianship really does pay off,” said Lisa Gwasda, Celia Cruz’s choir director.

The competition was held at the Bronx Zoo over two days in late December. In the final, Celia Cruz’s 22-member choir was up against two other talented schools. They chose to perform a 15-minute medley of Andrew Lloyd Webber songs, including “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” and “The Theme from Phantom of the Opera.” Each choir was judged on the basis of originality, performance, talent and audience reaction.

“I’ve been with this choir for three years,” said Celia Cruz student AnnMarie Oliveras, 17. “I’ve seen it go from mediocre choir at our school to top dog. It has been really nice to be part of its development and this accomplishment.”

For winning, the Celia Cruz choir received a $2,500 grant for its choir program and the opportunity to perform next month at The Hard Rock Café in Times Square. Since their victory, the school, a small school located in the Walton High School building, has received numerous invitations to sing at other events and will be performing in the Botanical Garden in March.

“It’s a wonderful thing to get our new small school on the map as performers,” said Gwasda. “This is what we came to do and it’s great to be rewarded for it.”

Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.

Like this story? Leave your comments below.