The San Marcos High School Madrigals have done it again. At the Heritage Festival in Seattle, Wash., the singing group took first place in its choral division, first place for overall choral score and the adjudicators award, with an average score of 98.5 percent.

As a result of their outstanding performance, the Madrigals have been invited to sing at the Carnegie Hall festival next year.

The Heritage Festival was created in 1980 by a group of music teachers who believed that bands, choirs and orchestras deserved the best of opportunities.

Sophomore Erika Gutierrez, a member of the Madrigals, said she was honored to experience the festival this year.

“It was amazing. We all had a lot of time to bond,” she said. “San Marcos has a wonderful choral system. I’m blessed to be a part of this and have Mrs. Teraoka-Brady as my teacher.”

Teraoka-Brady is head of the vocal division of the Performing Arts Department at San Marcos. She said she has been impressed with this year’s group.

“It’s different when you’re not in athletics and still compete,” she said. “This group of students didn’t start very strong, but they’ve improved so much with all their hard work. They’ve come a long way.”

Madrigals members are Stephen Amspoker, Kristin Anderson, Andrea Bagaw, Taylor Bergerot, Marielle Burridge, Austin Champion, David Childs, Heather Ehlen, Jacob Elliott, Parker Funk, Emily Gordon, Erika Gutierrez, Miranda Harmon, Alexandra Haws, Connor King, Filipp Kozachuk, Benjamin McKenzie, Carlos Medina, Tad Murroughs, Kelly Noe, Jonathan Ochi, Chiara Perez Del Campo, Madeleine Ramson, Sierra Reeves and Hannah Turk.

— Natalie Hendren is a staff writer for the San Marcos High School student newspaper, the Kings Page.