Deadlines and Links

Updated 5/8/2025

• Friday, September 1st,  2025 - CDA Teacher Membership Fee (Required for Honor Choir Registration)

• Friday, September 19th, 2025 - Middle School Honor Choir School Sign-Up

• Friday, October 3rd, 2025 - Middle School Honor Choir Registration Deadline (add student names to this sheet)

  • Student Packet: Distribute this student letter to your selected singer. 

• Friday, October 17th, 2025 - All Honor Choir Student Fees Due ($40 per student)

  • School checks written to District VIII CDA

  • Mail to: ATTN Naomi Naquin, 400 S College St., Minden, LA, 71055

• Thursday, November 13th, 2025 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. at Caddo Middle Magnet (required)

• Thursday, November 20th, 2025 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. at Summer Grove Baptist Church (required)

• Friday, November 21st, 2025 - All Day - Honor Choir Event - Summer Grove Baptist Church, Shreveport (required)

  • Students and teachers will be present for the entire day.

  • Schedule for Friday, November 21st: Honor Choir Fall 2025

  • Program for Friday, November 21st: Honor Choir Program Fall 2025

Middle School Honor Choir Learning Tracks

Honor Choir Process

• Middle School Honor Choir is not a District VIII CDA auditioned process. However, you may choose to audition or select your top singers.

• Each middle school will have certain voice parts to fill. You do not have to fill each voice part, but you may not exceed the quota. Each school can send 3 sopranos, 3 altos, and 3 baritones.

  • CDA Honor Choir will be an SAB group unless numbers dictate otherwise. 

• Student Packet: Once you have selected your singers, print and distribute this student letter. 

• Music will be distributed by District VIII CDA once it has been ordered and received. Practice tracks will now be available for middle school students. 

• Students must come to rehearsal knowing their music. 

• Students and teachers must be present at all rehearsals and performances for the entire duration. 

Meet our Fall 2025 Clinician

Holly Grefe is the Director of Choirs at Lafayette High School in Lafayette, Louisiana. A dedicated educator with 31 years of teaching experience, she has built a nationally recognized choral program grounded in musical excellence and student achievement. Under her leadership, the Lafayette High School Choirs have toured 42 times and earned more than 350 District, State, and National Awards. Selected by audition, her ensembles have performed at prestigious events including the 2011 and 2015 Louisiana American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) State Vocal Conferences and the 2016 ACDA Southern Division Conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Ms. Grefe earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Music from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, and a Master’s Degree in Vocal Music Education with an emphasis in Choral Conducting from Florida State University. While at FSU, she studied with esteemed mentors Dr. Judy Bowers, Dr. Kevin Fenton, and Dr. André Thomas. She also holds Level I and II Kodály Certification from McNeese State University, where she studied under Anne Eisen and Lamar Robertson.

Her dedication to students and to the choral arts has been recognized with numerous accolades. She was named the 2025 Lafayette Parish High School Teacher of the Year, the 2019 WorldStrides National Teacher of the Year, and the 2013 Lafayette Education Foundation High School Teacher of the Year. She was also a finalist for the award in 2009.

In addition to her work at Lafayette High School, Ms. Grefe is widely respected as a guest director, clinician, and adjudicator for choral festivals and events across the Southern United States. She is a member of the Louisiana Music Educators Association and the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), where she currently serves as President of the Louisiana chapter.