NATCHEZ &8212; With nine festival superior rankings in their back pockets, the Natchez High School choir is ready to go international.

The group has a tentative music festival in Toronto, Canada penciled in on the calendar, but they&8217;ve got to do a little fundraising first.

So far, about 30 members of the 50-member choir have signed up to make the April trip. The choir is divided into madrigal, SSA Chorus, men&8217;s glee, concert chorus, sextet, quartet and mixed ensemble.

The Toronto festival will be similar to the Ole Miss Choral Music Festival and the Riverland Choral Music Festival the choir attends each year. At each festival the choirs enter categories for adjudication and receive rankings.

At this year&8217;s Ole Miss festival in October, madrigal, SSA, men&8217;s glee and concert got the highest ranking, superior. The men&8217;s glee also received Best in Class.

At the Riverland festival earlier this month, sextet, quartet, madrigal, men&8217;s glee and mixed ensemble all received superior rankings. Men&8217;s glee and mixed ensemble received Best in Class.

Choir Director Joyce Arceneaux-Mathis said the superior ranking is hard to come by. NHS choirs always perform well at the festivals, but don&8217;t always receive all superiors, she said.

&8220;We pulled it off,&8221; senior member Dara White said. &8220;With practice and dedication and thrown shoes and threats from (Mrs. Mathis).&8221;

The students said Mathis pushes them hard during the music class period and during three times a week practices, but they all love the choir. Except the tights, said James Matthews and the other boys who wear elaborate costumes for their performances.

The group has a long list of community performances year round, including shows at local churches and nursing homes and roles as entertainment at several banquets.

And now they want the community to return the favor, the students said, with money for the Canada trip.

&8220;We are going to go to Canada,&8221; White said. &8220;And we are going to need as much support as we can get.

&8220;This is one of the things that excels at Natchez High, we do too much good for the community for them not to give back.&8221;

The group is planning a campaign to raise the needed money. Anyone who wants to donate can contact Mathis at NHS.