Cleveland High Choir Takes Fifth at State Championship in Sandoval County

Cleveland High School did not have to leave Rio Rancho to chase a state title. It hosted the New Mexico Activities Association state choir championship on its own campus, and the Storm answered with a finish that put Sandoval County students at the center of one of the state’s top vocal competitions.

Cleveland placed fifth in the A-5A Treble division and sixth in the 5A division, scoring 91.667 in the larger class. In a 12-school 5A field, that put the program in the upper half of the standings behind Clovis High School, which won the division with a 98.000, followed by Mayfield High School at 94.833 and Centennial High School at 93.500.

The championship ran April 14-15, and Cleveland’s singers performed Wednesday, April 15, at 11:40 a.m. in A-5A Treble and again at 5 p.m. in 5A. The judging rewarded consistency across tone quality, blend, balance and musicality, meaning the choir had to deliver as a unit rather than depend on a single standout passage.

That group approach has long been central to Cleveland’s choral program under director Jadira Flamm. Flamm and the students emphasized the months of rehearsal behind the result and the kind of nerves that come with a big stage, the positive kind that signal how much the performance matters. In a school known across Sandoval County for high-level athletics, the choir again made the case that its concert-hall performers deserve the same respect.

Cleveland’s choral department dates back to 2009, the same year the school opened, and it has grown into four choirs: Concert Choir, Bella Voce, Mixed Choir and Electric Blue Show Choir. The New Mexico Philharmonic describes the Concert Choir as a select group of 40 students in grades 9 through 12 with at least one year of choral experience, a reminder that this is a built program, not a one-season surge.

The result also fit a larger pattern. Cleveland has won multiple state choir titles in past years, including 2013 through 2019 in various classes, making this spring’s finish another chapter in a program that has stayed among New Mexico’s most consistent contenders. For Rio Rancho families, that matters because the choir’s reach extends beyond competition day, from holiday concerts to singing the national anthem at The Pit during basketball season.