During the competition season, Diamond Bar High School’s show choir, Marquis, busily competes throughout Southern California. Every year, Marquis hosts the Diamond Bar Show Choir Spectacular and on Feb. 13 Marquis played host to five different show choirs from the region and Arizona.

“This kicks off the Show Choir Competition season for Southern California,” Patty Breitag, show choir director, said via email. “This is the first time since I’ve been at Diamond Bar High School that we have hosted it on campus in our theater.” Formerly the competition took place at Citrus College, and Breitag hopes to host there again next year.

Each group gave a performance that was scored by three judges. Marquis, as the host group, did not compete and instead performed a set at the end of the night.

“It was great to show our set to other choirs [and] also to see other talented choirs and their sets,” junior Felicitas Anijelo, a Marquis member, said via Facebook.

In the first tier, the order of placement was Serrano High School, Willow Canyon High School, Mark Keppel High School, and Glendora High School in first place. Brea Olinda Masquerade, being in a tier by itself, was automatically awarded first place in its tier as well as a plaque for showmanship.

“It’s a really different experience just watching the choir when you aren’t competing because you get to really focus and see the others,” senior Alex Silva, Marquis president, said via Facebook.

Although Marquis had competed with many of the attending show choirs before, the Willow Canyon show choir from Surprise, Ariz., came due to its previous networking with Breitag. Marquis members had the jobs of meeting the choir directors and showing the choirs to their sections in the theater.
While Marquis was able to host and perform for a competition, it had another competition that it participated in the next day. Marquis lost to Hart High and Glendora High, but DBHS’s Solitaire won first place as an all girls choir.