Tascosa High School Choir

Tascosa High School offers five choral ensembles involving 250 students in grades 9-12. Emphasis is placed on vocal production, sight singing ability, and choral singing.

Tasocsa High School Choral Groups

Les Chanteurs: Our top choral ensemble comprised of students in grades 10-12. Les Chanteurs is a mixed choir (SATB). Members must audition to be a part of this choir.

Treble Select: This is an auditioned women’s choir of students in grades 10-12. An audition is required to be part of Treble Select Choir.

Freshmen Select: Consisting only of freshmen students, this is an auditioned mixed choir. In addition to the audition, approval by the middle school director is needed.

Women’s Choir: This group is open to all girls in grades 9-12 and no audition is required. However, director
approval is necessary to join Women’s Choir.

Freedom Singers: The show choir is open by audition to juniors and seniors. Freedom Singers is the public
relations ensemble for our school. They perform often in our community and in our schools.

THS Choirs present a number of performances each year, including the Fall Concert, Choir Boosters Gospel Concert,
Taste of Tascosa Christmas Concert, Broadway Nights, Pre-UIL Concert, MANFEST, and the Variety Show. Other activities include a softball tournament, soloists singing the National Anthem for volleyball and basketball games, 3 on 3 basketball tournament, and movie night.

Director Billy Talley

Billy Talley has been choral director at Tascosa High School for twenty-five years. Mr. Talley earned a Bachelor of Music Education and a Master of Music degree from West Texas State University in Canyon, where he was mentored by Dr. Hugh Sanders. Before coming to Tascosa, he taught at Dickinson High School and Pampa High School. His Tascosa High School choirs have performed for the Texas Music Educators Association Convention in 1991, 1995, and 2002. His THS Women’s Choir recently performed for the 2009 National ACDA Convention in Oklahoma City.  He has served in a number of capacities at the region and state levels, including Region Vocal Chair, Area Audition Chair, UIL Sightreading Committee, All-State Choir Section Leader, and TMEA Facilities Team. Talley served as High School Vice-President of the Texas Choral Directors Association from 2007-09. Three times he has been named Teacher of the Year at Tascosa High School. In 2003, a readers’ poll for the Amarillo Globe-News selected him as the city’s Outstanding Teacher. He was the founding director of the Amarillo Boy choir. He has been Music Director at St. Paul United Methodist Church for the past eleven years. He has been married to Libby for twenty-seven years. Talley enjoys playing softball and golf. He is a member of Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Choral Directors Association, American Choral Directors Association, Texas Music Adjudicators Association, and the Men of West Texas.

billy.talley@amaisd.org

Assistant Director Judy Harvel

Judy was born in California, raised in New Mexico but made it to Texas as soon as she could.  She received a Bachelor of Music Degree (with an emphasis in Education) from West Texas State University (now West Texas A&M) in Canyon followed by a Masters in Music Education from the University of North Texas in Denton.  During grad school she fell in love with the DFW Metroplex (as well as her husband) and stayed for fourteen years until her return to the Panhandle in 2007. 

While in Denton she taught middle school choir – her choirs consistently receiving top honors including UIL Sweepstakes, Best in Class, Best in Festival, etc. at choral competitions in the Metroplex area.  Under her direction, her middle school choirs also participated in a best of middle school recording project for a national publisher.  She has served as a TMEA region officer for several years and is frequently employed as a choral contest judge and choral clinician.   

Mrs. Harvel is in her sixteenth year of teaching and her third year as assistant to the Tascosa High School Choral Program where she directs the Non-Varsity choirs.  She is an active member of the Texas Music Educators Association, Texas Music Adjudicators Association, American Choral Directors Association, Texas Choral Directors Association, National Education Association, Texas State Teachers Association and Amarillo Education Association.

Mrs. Harvel has been married to her wonderful husband David for fourteen years.  They have three girls - Little Bit a geriatric Chihuahua, Princess a mothering red mutt and Goldie Hon a yellow lab/retriever known to the neighborhood as “squirrel’s bane.”

Tascosa Cluster Choir Directors (Left to Right)

Cindy Mills - de Zavala Middle School, Choir Director

Billy Talley - Tasocosa High School, Choir Director

Judy Harvel - Tascosa High School, Associate Choir Director

Armando Pinales - Houston Middle School, Choir Director

Susan Burt - Austin Middle School, Choir Director