All-State Auditions

The most stressful set of auditions imaginable. The All-State Choir Auditions. The process is three months long and requires an unimaginable amount of preparation. Even though the struggle is real throughout the process, the ending result is remarkable.

The audition process begins in August at an All-State vocal music camp. At these three day camps vocal teachers and helpers from around the state come and help teach the All-State music to students that way they all have a leg up before the school year starts. Not going to lie the first day of camp is a lot of fun because you get to learn all of the songs, the second two aren't. The second two days continue to reteach the songs so that they become locked into memory, and are also just extremely long days. Then after that three day camp, school starts!

At Kennedy the only people allowed to audition for All-State are enrolled in Chamber Choir. I have now done this process twice, last year resulting in a much better experience than year one. The problem when school starts is that everyone who didn't go to a camp needs to learn the music. So the first month of school is re-teaching the music to us, which gets boring sometimes. But then after that the process really picks up steam.

Quartets. When auditioning the judge listens to a group by quartets, one singer per voice part. This helps them because they can tell who really knows the music, and also shows off their individual voice better than when it's with an ensemble. The nerve racking part at Kennedy is getting into those groups. It is about a two week process of one by one singing to really match up who would sound good together, and who just gels together. This past year I was with Kennedy Wilson, Keanna Knutson, and Bryant Jasper. Our group was fantastic and I wouldn't have wanted to spend this year with anyone else.

Then after a month of practicing as a group came audition day. Auditions are nerve racking because there are a ton of groups in a center, and everyone is singing. Literally everyone. Some are good and some are bad but regardless, a headache is on the horizon. This year was different for me; I had more pressure than most. My football team made the playoffs and I had practice the same day as auditions, so after I auditioned I had to leave immediately back to Kennedy to go to practice. That meant no recall opportunity, I either made it or I didn't.

I remember two things from that day very distinctly; one was Mr. Ziegler right before my group went into the audition room. We sang through all of our songs, and by the end he started to tear up. I wondered why but then he said, "If you guys don't make it then that shows a flaw in the system, because you guys get it. Every other group is singing music, but you guys are making music." We were the only quartet to have all four people make it into the All-State choir.

The second thing I remember from that day is the amount of texts I had congratulating me after football practice. I think I had about thirty text messages telling me how proud they were and how great it must feel. I was on cloud nine. I do remember the year before however when I didn't make it. That felt awful. So to experience both ends of the spectrum was a humbling experience, and I won't ever forget the process. I have one more year to live it, and hopefully I'm able to give the system justice one last time.