The vocalists who train at the school do so in a conservatory setting at Suitland High School where vocal training makes up a large part of the curriculum.
The concert choir captured first place in a competition of international choirs and they will be defending that title in this year’s competition April 10-15 in Chicago. The program also includes an audition-only, smaller chamber choir.
Students hail from all over the county and must audition to gain admittance to the school. Areas of study include dance, visual arts, music and theatre. Students must also maintain a 2.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale.
Dimery Mowery of Bowie, a junior participating in the program, plans to major in vocal performance when she goes to college and said the school is getting her prepared for the next level of study.
Students have performed at venues such as the Clarice Smith Center and Memorial Chapel at University of Maryland, College Park, The Kennedy Center and Washington Performing Arts Society in Washington, D.C.
Between performances, each group gathers to practice at least six hours every week after school, Boucher said. And that doesn’t include the countless hours students put into their disciplines on their own time.
‘‘It’s an intense curriculum,” she said. ‘‘It’s very challenging, and it gives aspiring artists great experience. You get used to singing in front of big crowds.”
Mowery also said the private lessons are a unique facet of the program, because the lessons are a chance to study privately with the school’s accomplished faculty. All instructors are practicing musicians or artists, so Mowery said they give real world training.
One of the professors, violinist Hovayda Samandari, has performed on the Millennium Stage of the Kennedy Center and served as principal second violin of the Madrid Zarzuela Symphony Orchestra in Spain. He was also a member of the National TV Chamber Orchestra in Tehran, Iran.
Another professor, dancer Mariana Lausic, has given master classes at the Wolftrap Amphitheatre as part of Colin Powell’s ‘‘America’s Promise” initiative. She also is a former student at the Ballet School and Company of Hrvatsko Narodno Kazaliste in Croatia and the Ballet School and Company of Teatro Municipal de Santiago in Chile.
One or two of the 17 faculty members are generally assigned to each discipline, according to the SVPA Web site.
Boucher said all of the graduating seniors have been accepted into college music programs such as the prestigious New England Conservatory and the Cincinnati Conservatory. Eight students in the program also were accepted into Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute summer music program, where the list of notable alumni includes performers with the Boston Symphony and the Chicago Symphony.
DeCarlo Raspberry of Temple Hills, another junior in the program, who was a recent soloist at a performance at the University of Maryland, College Park, said SVPA is the place to be if you want to pursue a career in music.
‘‘I’m taking four music classes this semester,” he said. ‘‘It really does prepare you.”
Raspberry, one of the students accepted into the Tanglewood summer program, said the SVPA choir is the best in the county.
‘‘There are good choirs in Prince George’s County, but Suitland offers the best,” he said. ‘‘They give us music that’s hard, not just the standard stuff.”
According to the school’s Web site, the SVPA is ‘‘a rigorous four-year arts program that offers artistically talented high school students from all over Prince George’s County educational opportunities designed to prepare them artistically for college, professional study, or career options in the arts.”
And for Boucher, the accomplishments of the students show something about the caliber of both the faculty and students in a setting that allows for intense study.
‘‘You come here with like minded students,” he said. ‘‘There’s not a lot of time for fun and games.”
