The Hurst Euless Bedford ISD Elementary Honor Choir is currently in its nineteenth year of existence as a district sponsored organization. Comprised of auditioned fifth and sixth grade students from each of the district’s nineteen campuses, the choir is part of an ever-growing Visual and Performing Arts Program offered in the Hurst Euless Bedford ISD.

Established in 1993, the founders of Elementary Honor Choir sought to promote and encourage student engagement in music through singing. With the support of the HEB ISD Music Teachers, School Board and Supervisors in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts, student involvement soared and the program established itself as one of the premier student ensembles in the DFW Metroplex.

Since that time, the Honor Choir has received many honors and accolades. In the spring of 2000, the choir was recognized for its standards of excellence in performance and was invited to perform at the Texas Music Educators Convention in San Antonio. In 2011, the group would be further recognized for its achievements through an invitation to perform for the National Convention of the American Choral Director’s Association in the same city.

In addition to these honors, students in the Elementary Honor Choir are regular performers at the Moslah Shrine Circus, the City of Euless’ Arbor Days, the HEB ISD Employee Convocation Ceremony, the HEB ISD Retired School Employees Winter Assembly, and consistently receive “Superior” ratings at the NRH2O Music Festival in North Richland Hills, TX. The Elementary Honor Choir has also been featured in guest performances with other area choirs at Fort Worth’s Bass Performance Hall and was a featured performance group for the 2012 Texas Association of Curriculum Developers Conference in Dallas, TX.

Under the direction of Eric Cooley, the HEB ISD Elementary Honor Choir continues this tradition of excellence by seeking to maintain a dedicated community of student musicians, motivated to experience and share the joy of singing with each other, as well as the community in which they live. Through maintaining a mutual respect, appreciation, and concern for others, continually working to improve musical and expressive skills, fostering a dedication to the pursuit of musical and social excellence the Elementary Honor Choir works to engage students in preparation for life beyond the class room in which they are fully equipped to function as contributing members of an increasingly global community.