East High School (Sioux City, Iowa)

The Vocal Music Program at East High School offers ten choral ensembles, providing a variety of opportunities including modern a cappella and show choir. The Choirs at East present four concerts each year in addition to an authentic Renaissance Madrigal Dinner every December. While under the direction of Paula Keeler, East High School earned the distinction of being the first (and, to this day, one of the only) to place 28 singers (the maximum in Iowa) in the All-State Chorus. The premier ensemble, the Chamber Choir has performed in some of our country's finest performance venues, including four appearances at New York City's Carnegie Hall. They have earned awards at competitions throughout the country, including Grand Champion, Best Choral Tone, and Best Repertoire at FAME Los Angeles (2008), Best Repertoire and First Runner-Up at FAME Chicago (2010), Grand Champion, Best Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Bass Sections at the Grand River Concert Choir Competition (2012), First Runner-Up at FAME Chicago (2014), and Grand Champion, Best Choral Tone, and Best Repertoire at Heart Of America-Cincinnati (2017). In 2013, they were a featured ensemble in the University of South Dakota's Vocal Arts Festival; and in 2016, they participated in Morningside College's Choral Composition Competition Festival, where the work they performed ("A Prep-School Boy" by Joshua Fishbein) received First Prize.

Since 2013, East has collaborated with neighboring Bishop Heelan, North, and West high schools in producing an annual Men's Choir Festival entitled "Man Up & Sing." Since its inception, the festival has featured guest ensembles including the Iowa Statesmen, the Great Northern Union, and the Wartburg College Ritterchor. Each year, the festival involves roughly 120 students from the four high schools along with guest ensembles and conductors.

Sioux City East is nationally recognized for its competitive Show Choir program, consisting of three ensembles: “Premiere” (JV female), “New Sound” (JV mixed), and “The Headliners” (varsity mixed). Since 1989, The Headliners have garnered nearly 50 Grand Champion awards and innumerable awards for Best Vocals, Best Choreography, and Best Band. In 2010, under the direction of Heath Weber, they were recognized by Parade Magazine as one of America's Top 25 Show Choirs, eventually advancing to the Top 3, alongside Chantilly High School's “Touch of Class” (Chantilly, VA) and Preble High School's “Center Stage” (Green Bay, WI). In 2011, they appeared in choreographer Mike Weaver's book, “Sweat, Tears, and Jazz Hands: The Official History of Show Choir from Vaudeville to Glee.”