Page 110 - CJJanuary2026

2026 ACDA Southern Region Conference March 4-7, 2026 Memphis, Tennessee

P
Performing Choirs
er
hoirs
orming C
f
Apex and Apex Friendship High Schools Sam Wanamaker has been the cho-

Peak Ensemble Treble Choir ral director at Apex Friendship High
School for the last ten years. Wanamaker
earned a BME from Appalachian State
University and is a proud Mountaineer
alumnus. Wanamaker is a board member on the high
school choral section of NCMEA and the TTBB high
school R&R chair for NC-ACDA. His choirs have sung
at the North Carolina Music Educators Conference
and twice at the North Carolina ACDA Conference.
Wanamaker has performed as a soloist with the North
Carolina Symphony and the North Carolina Master
Chorale. He has conducted and performed throughout
the United States and Europe.

The Peak Ensemble Treble Choir comprises the
honors treble classes from Apex High School and Apex
Friendship High School. They believe wholeheartedly
in the importance of collaboration and have seen the INSPIRE EXCELLENCE. TRANSFORM LIVES.
many benefits that come from working together. The
students, or as they say “cousins,” and directors have SUPPORT
grown from learning and working together. They are
two separate schools, two separate ensembles, with two REGION HONOR CHOIRS
separate directors, but they do a concert together and
travel together annually. Singing their stories together
has proven more impactful in the growth of the stu-
dents in and out of the classroom.

Heather Copley is in her twenty-seventh
year as the choral director at Apex High
School. She holds a BA in voice and a
BME from Meredith College. Copley
teaches choir full time at Apex and serves Go to acda.org/donate
as the vocal director for her school’s musical each year.
She also serves as the PLC coordinator for the high
school chorus teachers in Wake County and enjoys
mentoring new teachers. Copley also enjoys adjudicat-
ing MPA and working with all-county and festival choirs
and leading workshops on vocal technique around the
state. She served on the NC MEA high school chorus
executive board for many years. Copley also has a small
studio where she teaches private voice lessons.

108 CHORAL JOURNAL January 2026 Volume 66 Number 5