Students from Sunset Middle School and Niwot High School selected to Colorado All State Choir

Four Sunset Middle School students and nine Niwot High School students have been selected to perform in the Spring 2023 Colorado All State choirs. Charlotte Stauch, Bryce Grayless, Athil Henderson and Camryn Bell, eighth grade students at Sunset Middle School, will participate in the Colorado Middle School All State Choir, a two-day event held at the Denver Convention Center on Mar. 9 and 10.

Stauch and Grayless are in the Triplo Choir, which is made up of soprano and alto voices. Henderson and Bell are in the Cambiato Choir, which is made up of tenor and bass voices.

The NHS students accepted in the Colorado All State Choir are Hosannah Adams, Dakota Allison, Kaiya Brown, Josephine Gravelle, Gustave Kuhlman. Mattie Milliman, River Osgood, Hannah Rudolph and Campbell Smith. They will participate in the festival Feb. 9 through 11.

Laura Walters, the Choral Music Director at Niwot High School, said eighteen NHS students auditioned and nine of them were accepted. "I've had students audition for All State every year at Niwot and we've had people make it every year," Walters said.

"While they can only audition starting their junior year, St. Vrain does a districtwide honor choir every year and we base our audition process for that on the All State process. And that's open to ninth through 12th graders, so ninth and tenth graders get practice with that their freshman and sophomore year. That helps also prepare them for it. When they went into the audition I thought anyone that had auditioned had a chance of making it, and they have all put in the work."

There is an All State Mixed Choir, an All State Treble Choir, and an All State Tenor-Bass Choir, and Walters had students accepted into all three.

Niwot High students prepared in class, and some had experience auditioning for regional and district honor choirs. But for most students, this was their first year; only Gravelle, who sings in the NHS Evenstar Choir, came back for a second year.

"I made it in last year as a junior and it was one of the greatest experiences I have ever had," she said. "So I am so grateful for the opportunity to go again and beyond excited."

But for these students, All State Choir is about so much more than performing at the festival next February. For many, it's a time to take part in a community both with their peers and with the audience. Nearly all choir students said that choir is special to them in part because it's an activity they love, but also because it is a unique opportunity to bring people together.

"Choir is an outlet to do what you love in the presence of other people who also love music," said Sunset eighth-grader Camryn Bell. "It's really cool to be able to create something together."

The high school students said it was special because of the dedication of their teachers, like Walters, without whom some students said their auditions wouldn't have been possible. "Our choir teacher is my motivation to continue," said NHS senior Dakota Allison. "Mrs. Walters supports all her students unconditionally and works harder than anyone I know. I wouldn't be where I am without her."

The next two months will be busy for all of these students. The high school students will prepare five to six pieces of music and come to the rehearsals with those pieces memorized. The students will hold rehearsals in conference rooms at the Embassy Suites in downtown Denver. They will stay at the hotel and then perform at the Buell Theater Feb. 9 through 11 for the final performances.

"I am absolutely elated to be able to be part of this unique experience," said Adams. "It is an incredible feeling to have all of the hard work put towards choir the last four years pay off, and be able to attend State for my senior year."

Junior and senior high school students in Colorado throughout the state are eligible to audition. Because the state is so large, the auditions were held at four different locations in October. The students had to prepare a solo of their choice, and learn relevant skills that included scales, triads, intervals, and sight reading. The students select their own solo, which must be a song of a classical nature, Walters said, "or an art song or folk song. It can't be music theater or pop. It has to be more classical in nature."

The judging is well-regulated. "There is 50% of their score on their solo," Walters explained, "and 50% of their score on the skills. And I think there are between 1,500 and 2,000 students that audition every year. and I think about 450 to 600 students...make it into All State every year."

"Before they go, they have to learn the music, and have it fully learned and memorized before they go to the festival in February. It's a really cool experience for them, because they get to then sing with the best of the best from the state. So it's a really awesome experience."

The Sunset Middle School students accepted into the Colorado Middle School All State Choir will also travel and stay overnight in Denver, and then perform in the BellCo theater on the final evening with 450 other students from around the State of Colorado. There will be a half-day rehearsal on Feb. 9 and a full day on Feb. 10.

Seventh and eighth-grade choir students are eligible to audition for the Colorado Middle School All State Choir. The Sunset auditions, which were held during the last week of September, included a solo performance of "Aura Lee," outlining the major scale, (both ascending and descending), in their voice register, and singing major and minor triads. In addition, the students were required to sing two short sections of music to demonstrate sight-reading ability.

"It was a whirlwind because it came up pretty quickly," said Anna Hansil, Choir Director at Sunset Middle School. "For All State Choir, the auditions are actually recorded, so each student that was auditioning came into my classroom and we listened to the audition track and the student kind of completed the audition and I recorded it and submitted it." Thirteen Sunset students auditioned and four were accepted. "Out of 1100 kids in the whole state. I'll take it. I'm really excited," Hansil said.

At the final performance, the students will sing folk songs and classic choir pieces, Hansil said. "And then they've included some more modern composers. Andrea Ramsey was a professor at CU and they've included one of her pieces on the program for one of the choirs. It's a good variety."

Having four students accepted was a wonderful achievement for Hansil, who recently completed a degree in Music Education at CU Boulder. "This is actually my first year teaching in general, my first year at Sunset, also. We have five choirs at Sunset, two of which are auditioned. And then we also have orchestra, mariachi, band - our top ensembles. We have jazz band as well, and then a concert orchestra that's auditioned, and then we offer Music Exploration, which is a way for our students to get involved with music if you're not sure where they fit into an ensemble....We have two concerts. one in November and then one in May this year."

Hansil will also be trying something new this year. All of Sunset's music students will be required to perform at an open mic night. "So they have a little more freedom in there with repertoire choices," Hansil said, "and, you know, they get to pick who they work with and so, hopefully, it goes well. Fingers crossed. We are requiring it for every student in our programs, so it's going to be a lot. We're probably going to have about 100-120 performances between all three of our departments....They're really excited about it." For those who are unable to attend the Denver performance, the open mic night performance will be held on Monday, Feb. 13, at 6 p.m. at the Sunset Middle School gym and is open to the public.

"I'm super proud of my kids." Hansil said. "I feel very honored to be able to be a part of their musical journey and hopefully play a positive role in that."