The 55th Piedmont Bird Calling Contest is winging its way to the Alan Harvey Theater on Friday, March 29, at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at ShowTix4u HERE. Prices are $25 for General Seating and $15 for Students.
This year’s theme is “A Rose By Any Other Name Would Sound As Sweet.”
This is a reference to the national movement to remove any human names from bird names. The birds will be renamed with a distinctive physical feature or reference to their habitat.
The steering committee is Kathryn Levenson, Producer and Teacher Librarian, plus Erin Igoe, Vice Principal, Andy Willats, Ornithology teacher, and Amy Moorhead, VAPA instructor.
Our poster contest was very challenging this year as we had a number of beautiful entries. Kira Pan was this year’s winner with her bluebirds and a rose topped microphone.
This year we will enjoy Daniel Banin’s wry humor as our Master of Ceremonies.
Our celebrity judge this year is Alex Hirsch, former contest winner and creator of Gravity Falls.
Local contest winner Yossi Fendel is back as our expert judge. Our teacher is still to be determined.
We have fifteen acts, ranging from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet if they were birds, to a tribute to Flaco, the New York Eurasian Owl, to several entire English classes performing en masse, the entire flock. Our Ornithology class is presenting a number of acts. They should nail those scientific names and information on bird behavior. Well over 100 students are performing bird calls, supported by a student tech crew and parent volunteers.
Last year’s winners appeared at the Berkeley Bird Festival. We already have a local organization planning to feature the 2024 winners at an event. In the past, winners appeared on the Johnny Carson Show, David Letterman Show, and in 2022, the Trevor Noah show.
Please join us for this joyful, noisy, family evening as we celebrate birds in all their colorful variety.