Our Story
It all started in a college dorm room
In the fall of 2007, a freshman student was challenged by a fellow former showchoir member to design the ideal showchoir competition scoresheet. Not knowing where this would take him, he accepted the challenge and got to work.
Over the next several weeks, the list of categories and captions grew and so did their interest in the project. Eventually, the two of them decided that they had the perfect set of criteria to evaluate the best showchoirs in the world. Without hesitation, they moved on to stage two: create a scoring system that was better, faster, and more efficient than the rest.
Beginning with just a simple spreadsheet, the two of them spent hours pouring over the rows and columns. After making the final adjustments, they were confident in their creation. They were ready to put it to the test, but they needed a name.
Inspired by a background in music and linguistics, they decided to name their new scoring system after the Latin word for ‘song, tune, charm’: Carmen.
Our first contests were a hit
A few weeks later, they got a call from ARTS in West Virginia asking if they would like to bring Carmen to their 2009 competition. Ecstatic, both of them agreed that this could be their chance.
They went down to the hills of West Virginia to show the world what they had to offer. The judges, directors, parents, and students were thrilled with the Revolution in showchoir scoring. It just so happened that one of the judges was the director of Fairfield High School in Ohio, Jeff Clark.
Mr. Clark was so impressed with the new system that he invited Carmen to the 2009 Fairfield Crystal Classic, the largest regional competition in Ohio. They could hardly believe it! Naturally, they accepted the invitation.
The Crystal Classic was a huge hit! The Carmen system proved to be so fast that the results were ready well before the staff were prepared for the awards ceremony. They were extremely proud of their accomplishments and decided that this is something worth pursuing. Little did they know, this was only the beginning.
Continued growth through collaboration
Over the next few years, Carmen added several more competitions and said goodbye to one of the founders.
With feedback from the showchoir community, the Carmen team created an entirely new look and feel to the system. New ideas like collaborative digital interfaces and customized set ups changed the face of Carmen. The system went from a humble spreadsheet to a full blown WebApp that made scoring and tabulation easier than ever.
Within no time, Carmen grew from just 2 competitions per year to over 60 showchoir competitions in the United States, over 40 with the Frisson Foundation in Scotland, over 60 with WorldStrides, and over 80 with Varsity Vocals. New members scattered around the world have joined the family and Carmen has become the preferred scoring system for competitions across the globe. Needless to say, the family is growing quickly and the once little freshman, now a PhD, couldn’t be more proud of what Carmen is becoming.
Founder
Sherman Charles, PhD
Arizona, USA
Representatives
Sammy Williams
California, USA
David Eschenbrenner
Ohio, USA
Nick Elleman
California, USA
Trenton DeBonis
Massachusetts, USA
Christian Myrick
Alabama, USA
Mason Cawthon
Illinois, USA