HRA Leads District in VMEA Honors Choir Participation for Third Consecutive Year

Hampton Roads Academy is proud to announce that seven talented Upper School singers have been selected to participate in the Virginia Music Educators Association (VMEA) District VIII Honors Choir in February 2026. With 88 percent success in student auditions, HRA has achieved the highest acceptance rate of any school in its district—spanning the Peninsula as well as Mathews, Gloucester, Surrey, Sussex, and Southampton Counties—for the third year in a row.

Congratulations to this year’s honorees!

Auditioning at Grafton High School on Saturday, November 15, these exceptional students competed against 600 other high schoolers to be selected for this opportunity. Senior Percy Bevilacqua ’26 delivered an especially strong performance, earning the third-highest score of any alto 2 in the district.

During the District Honors Choir event at Warwick High School in Newport News, the students will rehearse for three days (February 19-21) with clinicians from across the state, culminating in a special performance. All of HRA’s participants will perform with the soprano/alto choir, conducted by Megan Cartwright, a distinguished educator who directs multiple music programs on the Eastern Shore.

Additionally, Bevilacqua and fellow senior Heather Lowekamp ’26 are now eligible to audition for the VMEA All-State Choir.

HRA’s Middle and Upper School choir director Marshall Severin commented that he is extraordinarily proud of his District Choir students, whom he commended for the considerable time they invested outside of class, preparing for their auditions and “coming up with their own interpretation” of their repertoire.

“This particular group of students is one of the youngest I’ve ever sent to audition, with four freshmen, a junior, and two seniors,” Severin said, “so I’m really excited to see what the future holds for them.”