Delco Christian School Choir Champs Take the Stage

Written by Bob Byrne 


The B101 Christmas Choir High School division winners took the stage at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia on Wednesday. 

This was the first year Delaware County Christian School (DC) entered the radio station's five year old Christmas Choir Contest and the first time any school swept both the high school and K-8 divisions.

DC Choral Director Renee Bussey made her second appearance in a week at the Philly Pops Wednesday night, directing her high school Concert Choir in an accapella performance of Carol of the Bells.

Bussey tells Patch the past two weeks have been "intense, very busy, and fun" as students in both of her winning choirs not only prepared to perform on stage at the Kimmel Center but also prepared for their Christmas concert at the school and mid-term exams which are going on this week.

"Exam week is intense," Bussey said, without the added pressure of performing for two huge crowds in two weeks at Philadelphia's premiere orchestral music venue. 

The students didn't mind and took it in stride. "This feels like a dream," 11th grade student Abby Semple, of Springfield, said in the moments after appearing on stage with the Philly Pops. "We're all so tired but this is unreal, but it's been amazing!"

For the second week in a row, Bussey was presented a check for $5,000 for DC's music program. Her Middle School Select Choir won the K-8 competition and sang at the Kimmel Center last week.

Both choirs recorded their winning entry in DC's Elementary School Campus chapel on Waterloo Road in Devon. After being selected by radio station judges for their musical performance, DC competed with other schools for votes from radio station listeners. Both DC choirs received more votes than the other also-musically-outstanding entries in two rounds of voting.

The small, private christian school (there are 740 students in the entire PK-12th grades) received more votes than other schools. Most of the schools in the competition are many times larger than DC. Voting in the final round went for 14 hours last Thursday.

The DC students say they spent every spare moment voting but that the larger community of DC Alumni from literally around the world, and voting support from a large network of churches who have students at the school made the difference.

One senior choir member from Wayne told Patch "support from the church community was awesome. It makes for a great environment."

Another senior described the final results and the school's mission in one simple phrase saying, "we are champions for Christ."