About Our Choir Family
At Green Valley High School, our motto is "Commitment to Excellence." The Green Valley High School Choirs have executed this motto since their beginning in 1991, when the school opened. The choirs have performed in many festivals and events in Hawaii, California, Utah, Florida, Colorado, New York City, Oklahoma, and Washington D.C. The choirs consistently receive "superior" ratings at state, regional, and national festivals. The Madrigal Singers have received the honor of "Command Performance Vocal Ensemble" at the Nevada All-State Music Educators Conference ten times since 1995. In 1998, Concert Choir was featured at the Western Division American Choral Directors Association Conference in Reno. The Madrigals had the honor of performing at the ACDA National Conference in Los Angeles in 2005, the 50th Anniversary ACDA National Conference in Oklahoma City in 2009, and the ACDA Western Division Conference in Santa Barbara in 2014. The Madrigal Singers are invited annually to perform in the Chapman University Invitational Chamber Festival, and recently have been invited to sing at the USC Invitational Chamber Festival. The choirs have performed at both the Walt Disney World and Disneyland Candlelight Processional multiple times. In 2013, choir students performed with world-renowned composer Eric Whitacre in Carnegie Hall. Students were featured on the Rolling Stones 50th Anniversary Tour in Las Vegas in 2013. The Green Valley High School Music Department has received the National Grammy Signature School Award five times, most recently in 2012. This year we have the honor of celebrating our 27th anniversary of Green Valley High School.
Kimberly Barclay Ritzer is in her twenty-seventh year as director of the Green Valley High School Choirs. After teaching one year at Dell H. Robison Middle School, she had the privilege of building the choral program at GVHS. She is a 1990 graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, receiving a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education and a 2001 graduate of the University of Phoenix with a Master's Degree in Educational Administration. Mrs. Ritzer is currently Task Force Chair for High School Choir and Secondary Fine Arts Facilities Chair for the Clark County School District. She has served as president of the Nevada Music Educators Association on three different occasions and president of the Nevada Chapter of ACDA twice. She is currently co-chair of the 2014 Nevada All-State Choir and president-elect of Nevada ACDA. Mrs. Ritzer is currently a former choral director at Thurman White Middle School and teaches Secondary Choral Methods at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.