Aaron Carlson ’27 delivers an energetic performance with the pop a cappella group Nowhere to Hide
Hampton Roads Academy is proud to announce that senior Aaron Carlson ’27 has been selected to participate in the American Choral Directors Association’s (ACDA) highly prestigious 2027 National Vocal Jazz Honor Choir.
Meeting March 7-10 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the choir will give Carlson the opportunity to showcase his exceptional talents alongside eleventh- and twelfth-grade musicians from across the country, culminating in a much-anticipated performance at the ACDA National Conference.
This fall, Carlson was one of two Navigators, along with Moira Noble ’29, who submitted audition recordings for ACDA National Honor Choirs. According to Middle and Upper School choir director Marshall Severin, “Both have shown high levels of musicianship and dedication” as they prepared performances that were adjudicated among submissions from thousands of high school students throughout the United States.
The National Vocal Jazz Honor Choir is “the most selective of any of the Honor Choirs at National ACDA,” Severin said. “We are thrilled that Aaron Carlson will be representing Hampton Roads Academy.”
Carlson’s achievement is all the more impressive because this will be his second year performing with a biennial National Honor Choir. His acceptance into this competitive ensemble follows his selection just a few weeks prior for a place in the 2026 Virginia Music Educators Association Senior Honors Choir, which will feature soon-to-graduate singers from all over the Commonwealth at the VMEA Conference in Richmond next month.
Carlson is a gifted jazz instrumentalist as well as a talented singer across genres
These sought-after performance opportunities represent well-deserved exposure for a hardworking, musically gifted Navigator. An alumnus of the Virginia Governor’s School for the Visual & Performing Arts at Radford University, where he studied vocal music in summer 2025, Carlson is a pillar of the performing arts community at HRA. He has distinguished himself as a member of the Upper School choir and the contemporary a cappella group Nowhere to Hide, for which he sings, beatboxes, and produces vocal arrangements. A talented guitarist and bassist as well as an outstanding vocalist, he also participates in the concert band and is a founding member of the 7 O’Clock Jazz Band. In addition to performances on stage, he has demonstrated his abilities as a jazz musician at such Navigator community events as the 2025 Homecoming alumni reunion party and the opening reception for the 2026 HRA Art Show.
In the National Vocal Jazz Honor Choir, Carlson will combine a wealth of experience as a singer across genres with a longstanding passion for jazz that has earned him multiple accolades on campus and beyond. Congratulations to an incredibly accomplished artist!
