HISD’s Parker Elementary School Chorus has been selected as a finalist in the 2019-2020 American Prize National Competition in the Performing Arts.

Parker’s advanced chorus, under the direction of Marianna Parnas-Simpson, is nominated for The American Prize in Choral Performance—youth division. The advanced chorus is made up of fourth and fifth-grade students.

“It is a huge honor for our Parker students and their families to be recognized like this on a national level,” Parnas-Simpson said. “It is a testimony to their hard work and dedication to the choral art.”

The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts is the nation’s most comprehensive series of contests in the classical arts. The American Prize is designed to evaluate, recognize and reward the best performers, ensembles and composers in the United States based on submitted recordings. The winners will be announced later this summer.  

“It means the world to our school community when esteemed organizations share and highlight what we already know about our students,” Parker Principal Chavis Mitchell said. “They are a talented, highly skilled, and energetic group of individuals, whose futures are limitless!”

Parker Elementary is a magnet school where music takes center stage. The school has nine faculty music teachers, and students in the school’s music program begin their study as early as Kindergarten with Suzuki Violin, Suzuki Cello, or music enrichment. They also offer instruction in vocal music, guitar, piano, and rhythm band. For more information, visit https://bit.ly/ParkerMusic.