Spotlight Singers gearing up to host show choir competition
By Heather Graves
The show choir competition has gotten off to a rough start for a group of talented youngsters from Southwest High School.
Due to an increase in COVID-19 positive cases within the choir, the Green Bay Southwest Spotlight Singers were unable to compete in its first scheduled competition last week in Onalaska.
And though Director Brent Bergstrom said the group is bummed to miss its first competition of the season, he said the excitement of hosting the first ever Green Bay competition this spring is helping lift their spirits.
This year, in addition to performing in the remaining competitions in New London and De Pere – the Spotlight Singers are hosting The Packerland Powerhouse Showcase March 12 at Southwest High School.
The showcase represents the first competition ever held in Green Bay, which Bergstrom said is both an accomplishment and an undertaking.
“I have wanted to host an event of this magnitude since I started at Southwest to fund our entire program,” he said. “(However), show choir is expensive and our budgeted money does not support the size of the program.”
Bergstrom said it’s an all-hands-on-deck effort – fundraising for the event and for the entirety of Southwest’s music program.
“By running this event alongside our music boosters, the Music Parents Association, we are able to raise funds for all areas of the department,” he said. “The success of this fundraiser is important to the group as it will relieve some of the financial burden of things like choreographers, music arrangers, copyright licenses, set design costs, etc.”
Bergstrom said it’s his goal to raise enough money spread across the department.
Currently, nine groups are signed to attend the Packerland Showcase.
Bergstrom said it will be a similar format to show competitions throughout the state.
“All groups will compete during the day,” he said, “and then there will be a finals competition in the afternoon/evening where the top groups perform.”
He said the group is also looking for event sponsors.
“This can be anything from purchasing an advertisement in our program to sponsoring the entire event and having the business name listed on our posters and banners,” he said.
Anyone interested, may contact Bergstrom directly, at [email protected], for more information.
The Spotlight Singers
The Green Bay Southwest Spotlight Singers has been around for years, evolving in name and focus.
“Both myself and the assistant director, Ali Vandeberg, were members of the group when we attended Southwest,” Bergstrom said. “At the time it was not a competitive group and focused solely on performances. They have been competing since I took over the group in the fall of 2013.”
The extracurricular performance group, though Bergstrom said it can vary year-to-year, is made up of 17 singers/dancers, seven instrumentalists and three crew members.
They practice twice a week after school – on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:15-6 p.m.
“I’m excited to get back to performing,” Junior Adrienne Moder said.
Moder, who is also performing in Southwest’s musician Mamma Mia which opens Feb. 11, has been a part of the Spotlight Singers since 2019.
“I’m excited to kick off the competition season,” she said.
Bergstrom said this year’s theme is “Spellbound,” and includes 5 different songs in one.