Sunset Middle School represents at all state choir

Last week, four middle students from Sunset Middle School participated in the 2023 Colorado Middle All State Choir concert, along with students from across the state. In this highly competitive performance-reportedly more than 1,000 students auditioned and approximately 400 were accepted-this was a key opportunity for young singers, and one Sunset takes seriously.

"It is a huge honor to come and have this experience," said choir teacher Anna Hansil. "They've worked really hard and they should be proud of themselves."

Only seventh and eighth-grade students are eligible to audition for the choir, and they are responsible for having the music learned and memorized before the annual event. To prepare, Hansil had the students prepare in a variety of ways, including sight reading and playing a song excerpt and repeating it back. The students then auditioned depending on their vocal range and were assigned to one of three choirs: Cambiato (for tenor through bass), Triplo (for sopranos and altos) or Mescolare (another soprano/alto choir).

Performing students were then invited to stay in downtown Denver for two days, practicing ahead of the big Friday night performances. They rehearsed with professional clinicians, including Stephen Ross, who is a member of the acappella band FACE, Maria A. Ellis, who owns Girl Conductor LLC and Nathan Payant, who is on faculty at the University of Denver and at Colorado State University.

"It's a really incredible experience to have a clinician who really knows what she's doing," said Charlotte Stauch, an eighth grader who's singing as an alto under Ellis in the Triplo Choir. "Everybody is invested in this opportunity and this learning experience."

This experience is also a key time for the students to further develop their relationships with their peers. Camryn Bell, another eighth grader said, "It's been really comforting just knowing I'm able to sing with people who want to be here and want to grow as a person and as a singer, and who are really committed to choir."

Bell sang as tenor I with the Cambiato choir under the guidance of Ross; two more eighth-grade students, Athil Henderson (baritone) and Bryce Grayless (soprano II) sang in the Cambiato and Triplo choirs, respectively.

But choir, and the Middle All State concert provide more than just an opportunity for these students to network and follow their artistic passions. For many of these students, and for Hansil, music is a unique outlet for learning and complex personal growth.

"There's a lot of stories that music classes help with social-emotional learning," Hansil explained. "It boosts their work ethic, and their respect for other people. In general too, it's all about community building and we do math in music with counting rhythm and time signatures. We learn about text and go over text analysis so we're kind of hitting a lot of different subject matter in our classes."

Taking four of her students to state during her first year at Sunset was particularly heartwarming for Hansil. Not only did she describe it as a "full circle moment" since she started down her choral journey with Middle School All State Choir in her youth, but this has been an opportunity to bond with her students.

"They're just really awesome, they're some of our school's most dedicated students," Hansil said. "The kids I have here at All State with me make a point to show how much they care about choir and they care about each other. I think that level of empathy is something I really value about music classes."