Over the course of this school year, the school’s choir students have been preparing for the All-State Competition, a process where individual musicians compete against one another vocally over a five month span of time, hoping to be ranked among the top vocalists who audition. Most aspire to make it into one of the two choirs that perform at the end of the process and to have bragging rights.
Every year, music students across Texas begin preparing themselves to audition for All-State. TMEA, the Texas Music Educators Association, hosts this competition, which includes high school level bands, orchestras, and choirs. It is the highest honor a Texas music student can achieve, and Marcus is no exception.
“I’ve been working on [the music] since it first came out last year. It was the last month of school, so June,” said senior Jessica Obordo.
Many choir students, like Obordo, have been busy preparing themselves for this competition, learning the tough and challenging music.
“The All-State process in Texas is a rigorous process, it really is. There is progressively harder sight reading in every round; there are more rounds than when I started teaching,” Patty Freeman, one of the two choir directors, said.
This year’s choir All-State audition process began on October 3 with the Phase 1 auditions. Students sang very selective and difficult music spanning a range of various foreign languages, including challenging rhythms/notes and requiring a high level of musicianship. During the Phase 1 auditions, students entered a room with a panel of judges behind curtains. They sang selected pieces which they had practiced and were ranked on their skill. Although students had practiced their music, they did not know exactly which sections of the music they would be auditioned on until they arrived at the audition site. After singing the selected songs, students then had to sing at sight (sight read) an exercise that was written specifically for the audition to evaluate their music reading ability. The higher ranking students from this audition will go onto the next audition, called All-Region.
Students making the All-Region Choir will participate in a two day clinic ending with a concert. It is an exceptional honor to be named an All-Region Choir member. After Phase 1 and Region auditions, there is the Pre-Area audition. The top five ranking singers from that audition in each voice part will move on to the Area auditions. The top ranking singers from the Area auditions are named All-State Choir members.
Junior Analyse Gordon, who made it all the way to Area last year, said, “I know what to expect now. I did Pre-Area round freshman year, so I kind of knew what to expect there, but last year I came more prepared having done it before so I feel like that played a lot into why I made it past.”
Gordon’s goals this year are to make first chair, the highest rank available, and make the Region Mixed Choir again. She also wants to make the All-State Choir. However, some students, like sophomore Amy Davis, audition for a different reason.
Davis’s goals this year are to push past the first round and make it to the All-Region Choir that sings for the performance.
“It doesn’t make me any less determined, but last year I made it to the second round, but I didn’t make it to Pre-Area, so it just gives me more motivation to get to the third round,” Davis said.
Both girls could not have achieved what they have done and will do without the help of the choir director, Wesley Davis.
“During the school year, we offer rehearsals at least three days a week after school to prepare our kids,” Davis said.
A range of vocal teachers and clinicians are also available to students wishing to practice extra hard. Without Mr. Davis’s ongoing campaign to help these students, many would not even audition.
All-State Choir is the highest achievement a choral student can earn. The skills needed to earn a top rank are products of countless hours of practice and dedication.
