By Elise DeYoung

Central’s Bards, Quintet, and Legacy choirs have been awarded the top honor in the state of Michigan for Ensemble Performance in that they were invited to perform at the Michigan Youth Arts Festival, held at Western Michigan University from May 8-10.

The Bards and Cecelia’s Quintet were both selected to perform at the festival and Legacy was selected as a finalist. Opening performances began at 7pm on the May 8. The festival, founded in 1963, spotlighted student talent in the areas of creative writing, dance, music, media, poetry, theater and other arts.

“I was honored to be in a choir recognized as one of the best in the state of Michigan,” said Bards member Evan Wyatt.

Bards were also selected as the top Large Ensemble and the Quintet was chosen as the Top Small Ensemble.

Students were nominated and invited based on a nine month search of talents found in these areas. The festival encourages love for the arts and recognizes others’ passion for the arts. This year, 600 students were chosen from the overall 60,000 entries.

The groups went to Kalamazoo a day early and stayed in a hotel for a night before the festival.

“It allowed us to bond and spend time together as a group, which was a lot of fun,” said Wyatt.

The festival influences and inspires young adults to take the initiative to improve or show off their skills in art today.