Chorus

What Chorus is

• A choir class in middle school and high school. GCPS high schools offer Men's, Women's and Mixed Chorus at Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced and Mastery levels.
• Concerts through the year plus GMEA Large Group Performance Evaluation (LGPE) at schools that enter. At LGPE, choirs also sight-read music they have not seen before.
• Smaller auditioned groups — chamber, show choir, a cappella — only if that director runs them.
• At elementary school, GCPS says many schools have a chorus outside general music, and the district's Elementary Honor Chorus brings fifth graders together each spring.

What Chorus is not

• Not band. Not orchestra. Not theater class, even when singers perform in the musical.
• Show choir is not automatic — many schools never staff it.
• Not All-State. All-State Chorus is an individual audition on top of school choir.
• SOTA's Voice conservatory is an auditioned application path, not the neighborhood chorus roster.

Who runs it

The choral director at the school. GMEA runs LGPE, Solo & Ensemble, All-State Chorus, All-State Reading Chorus and the statewide elementary and sixth-grade honor choirs; Gwinnett schools are in GMEA District 13. The GCPS Fine Arts office runs the district Elementary Honor Chorus, where each school's music teacher selects the students.

Who runs this at your child's school is a school question. Ask the front office or the director who runs the program. GCPS Insider does not keep a live director list and cannot tell you who the director is. Please do not email us to find a director, rehearsal time, fee, audition date, or roster.

Year at a glance

By grade

• Elementary: All GCPS elementary schools teach general music; many also have a performing chorus. Selected fifth graders sing in the district Elementary Honor Chorus.
• Middle: Chorus is a standard performance ensemble class in GCPS middle schools. All-State Chorus has a middle school division for grades 7–8.
• High: Men's, Women's and Mixed Chorus at four levels. All-State Chorus splits high school into grades 9–10 and 11–12, and there is a separate All-State Reading Chorus.

Time and logistics

Lighter than marching band for most families, but concert weeks and LGPE day still mean evening rehearsals and a long school day. Show choir, if offered, usually has its own rehearsal load. Ask about pickup times.

Money

There is no single GCPS chorus price, and we will not quote one. Ask about any class or booster fee, concert dress, show-choir costumes if offered, and travel. All-State and honor-choir costs are separate. Ask about help for families who cannot pay.

How Georgia scores it

GMEA rates choirs at LGPE on a five-step scale from Superior (1) to Poor (5), with a separate sight-reading rating. All-State Chorus starts with a first-round audition — scales, a prepared solo (students pick one of two GMEA solos for their grade level) and sight-reading — then a second round for students who advance. Only the school's choral director can register a student. A section leader role, an All-State seat and years in the program count later. “Was in choir” on its own does not.

Who it tends to fit

• Good fit: a kid who will learn their part at home and show up for evening concerts.
• Think twice: if the family cannot do the evening concert schedule and the top ensemble expects it.

How kids get on Chorus

• Ask the front office for the choral director, then contact the director.
• Ask whether beginners are welcome this year or whether the main ensemble is auditioned.
• If your child wants All-State, ask in August. GMEA registration closes in mid-September.
• Ask about concert dress before you buy something the school will not use.
• For a fifth grader, ask the music teacher how the school picks its Elementary Honor Chorus singers.

Not every ensemble or level exists at every GCPS school, and availability changes year to year. Confirm at your child's school before you plan around it.

Questions to ask the director

1. Is chorus a class, after school, or both?
2. Are there auditioned ensembles (show choir, chamber, etc.) this year?
3. When are concerts, and which ones are required?
4. Do your choirs go to GMEA LGPE this year?
5. How do All-State auditions work at this school?
6. What is the cost, and what does concert dress cost?
7. Can a beginner start in this grade?
8. Do choir students sing in the school musical?

Specialized option (not the neighborhood default)

This list is incomplete on purpose. We only list arts programs we have verified on official GCPS pages.

• School of the Arts (SOTA) at Central Gwinnett High School is the district's arts-centric high school program. The Conservatory is audition- or portfolio-based and mostly takes incoming 9th graders. SOTA Fellows is application-only with no audition. Students from outside the Central Gwinnett zone must qualify for a permissive transfer and provide their own transportation, and both programs list an academic standing requirement. Applications for 2027–28 are due Nov. 30, 2026. Details Voice is one of the SOTA conservatories.

Still verifying. We have not published a school-by-school list for this program and we will not invent one. Browse the schools directory and check a school's own fine arts page, and tell us what your school offers — that link is for adding a school, not for asking who the director is.

Who runs this at your child's school is a school question. Ask the front office or the director who runs the program. GCPS Insider does not keep a live director list and cannot tell you who the director is. Please do not email us to find a director, rehearsal time, fee, audition date, or roster.

What to do this week

Ask for the choral director. Ask whether the main ensemble is open or auditioned, and when the first concert calendar goes out.

Related: Band · Orchestra · Theater · Visual Arts

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