Every school in Colorado is able to audition to be a part of an All-State Choir, however they are very selective and most people that are accepted would have been practicing for almost a year ahead of the audition.
There are many requirements that have to be met for the audition. Students must know three scales: Major Scale, Harmonic Scale, and Melodic Minor Scale; and four Triads: Major Triad, Minor Triad, Diminished Triad, and Augmented Triad. They must also know how to identify and sing intervals, tonal recall, rhythmic sigh reading, and melodic sight reading. Before performing the previous requirements, the student must have a prepared solo that does not sound like a jazz, pop, or musical theatre song. If it does, it could significantly impact the solo whether they performed it perfectly their points could be fours across every section because of the style they sang their song.
There is a reason why many students do not try out for All-State Choir. Choir teacher Christina Contreras said, “It’s a really hard audition. It was way harder than any college audition that I’ve had or that any of my students have had, honestly. I think a lot of people are afraid of that just because there’s so many components to it.” The difficulty of the audition is what scares most students away from it; however, there are still many people that audition. There were about 5,500 auditions last year, so finding out results won’t happen until a month goes by.
Many students begin picking out their song five months before the audition, which is highly encouraged by Mrs. Contreras. “Mrs. Contreras helped me pick a song for my solo in May, so I practiced over the sumer with a recording, but I really started working at it at the beginning of this school year, when I had her to help me in person,” said senior Carli Bruegman. Students are also encouraged to listen to other people sing the song they chose through YouTube and study the meaning of the song so they can connect to it.
On Sat. Oct. 18 five students participated in the auditions. Celie Tharp(26), Jayde Shoemaker(27), Carli Bruegman(26), Teagan Maxwell(26), and Alyson Hale(26) all auditioned this year. They did auditions at Colorado State University and each member had a different judge. As they walk into their audition room they’ll see a piano in the back and a judge sitting in front of it. “I was terrified going into the audition last year, but this time, I felt like I knew better what I was getting into, so I wasn’t scared. Overall, I still think I learned a lot as a performer and grew closer to the others who auditioned,” said Bruegman.
The five students will know the results of the audition in mid-November. Until then, they have gained much more musical knowledge through the audition process and have already improved themselves as musicians.
