To perform in the American Choral Directors Association National Honor Choir (ACDA Honor Choir) is exactly what it says in the name: an honor. With thousands of auditions all over the U.S. and only about 12% of applicants accepted, Sydney Cederberg was one of the talented few.
The ACDA is comprised of four honor choirs: 8th through 10th Treble, Middle School, Jazz, and the most prestigious, the Junior-Senior honor choir. Cederberg was one of three applicants from Oregon accepted, and the only one for Junior-Senior.
A member of both Symphonic Choir and Soul’d Out, acceptance to All-State and All-Northwest Choir, and a paid internship at the Northwest Vocal Arts Center, Cederberg is very well-versed in the world of music.
Karen Bohart describes Cederberg as having “incredible pitch, and she is a very good musician. She has a voice that blends beautifully in choirs. I think, you know, for a National Honor choir, you have to have that kind of voice; her voice is special and unique that way.”
The ACDA application process is a combination of low-stakes and stressful. Cederberg’s acceptance of not being admitted settled from the start, “but it still felt important.”
The audition requires a test of sight-reading capability, a scale in your low register, a scale in your high register, an excerpt from a performance piece, singing in solo a cappella, and a choral of a random song.
After months of waiting, Bohart informed her of her acceptance, excitement radiating from both. Bohart explains, “This is my 29th year teaching, I’ve had lots [students] make All State, lots make All Northwest, but this is my second time that I’ve had a student make the National Honor Choir.” The reality of this huge accomplishment was settling in as Cederberg’s performance process began, when a month prior to the performance, singers receive music to practice in their home state.
A week before spring break, Cederberg packed her bag and made her way to Dallas, Texas for a four-day excursion. Days consisting of “intensives, practices, and rehearsals all together,” Cederberg recalls.
About six or seven rehearsals leading up to a huge performance, attended by “parents, adjudicators, and directors. Everybody goes to it, for example, Eric Whitacre was there. He’s like the closest thing that choir has to a famous person.” Eric Whitacre is a Grammy Award-winning composer and conductor.
Getting to perform with America’s top choral students was an experience Cederberg is unlikely to forget: “There’s so much cool sound that you can accomplish when you can give 300 kids an instruction and they immediately retain it the first time, and it’s never a problem again. That’s a special thing.”
“Every single person there was so intelligent, and very good at what they were doing. It wasn’t toxic at all; we were all just together, being good at what we do,” she tells, the positive space making for an easy atmosphere. “All I had to worry about was myself and my focus on the director.”
Bohart hopes that Cederberg continues to use her musical talent beyond high school. Explaining, “I think my passion as a teacher is to give students lots of opportunities beyond the classroom to dream bigger in music, and I hope that she continues to dream bigger and takes this even further than high school.”