NHS Junior Kennah Brackett selected for All State Jazz Choir

Niwot High School junior Kennah Brackett has been selected to participate in the Colorado All State Jazz Choir (ASJC), which is open to students in the 11th and 12th grades. Brackett is the first NHS student to be chosen for this honor.

According to Laura Walters, Choral Music Director at NHS, Brackett worked hard to prepare herself for the initial audition. "She had to prepare two solos as well as several scales," Walters said, "all performed in a swung/jazz style. For one of the solos, she had to 'scat,' which is a big part of singing in a jazz style."

Out of over 250 students who auditioned in the state, Brackett was one of 64 students to receive a callback, where she was required to perform a variety of skills, including sight-reading, scat improvisation, and aural recall. She also had to learn a new piece of music to sing in a quartet. After almost five hours, Brackett was one of only 48 who made it into All State Jazz. "It was a very extensive callback," Walters said. "And we are so thrilled at how well she did, and that she was selected!"

"On the personal level," Brackett confessed, "this means a lot to me because it has been a goal of mine to get into this choir for many years."

A member of the top auditioned choir at Niwot High School, Brackett is active in Evenstar, Symphonic Band, Honor Choir, and Honor Band. In addition, she performed in "Rent" at Centerstage and Niwot High School's "Mamma Mia!", and recently appeared as Chip in the NHS performance of "Beauty and the Beast."

Music is a major part of her life. "I love knowing that I will be able to share it with an even wider audience," Brackett admitted. "On the professional level, I want to go into music as a career, so it is definitely validating. I also am very proud to be the first student at Niwot to make it in, and I hope more students follow."

Brackett's first audition was online. She worked on the music and scales on her own before the audition, and she was also required to record and submit multiple scales and songs. According to ASJC requirements, these recordings had to show that the student could sing the audition songs in the key of their choice. In addition, the accompanying musician could not play the melody, and had to represent the correct tempo of the piece.

Brackett recalled, "A few other people who were auditioning met together before auditions were due to work on the music together, which was super helpful because my friends found some amazing recordings to listen to and get inspired from. Then I got a callback, and to prepare for that I mainly practiced scatting along with a chord progression and sightreading harder music than usual."

Sixteen people from each voice part were selected for the multiple-hour callback. "They split us into quartets, and we practiced our audition music together, which we then performed," Brackett said. "We also had to do sight reading, a blend test, and aural recall exercise. The results were sent back very quickly, I think 12 people from each part made it in."

"I get to learn the music on my own and then put it together with the group!" Brackett said. "There are three choirs overall. I made it into the Mixed Choir. To support even more students at Niwot High School, people can attend the All State Choir Weekend on Feb. 10 at the Buell."

Brackett will attend the All State Jazz Choir Festival in Colorado Springs from January 25-27. "Overall," Brackett said, "this experience has been amazingly fun. I love jazz music and I am so excited to sing with such an advanced group." After a weekend of rehearsals, the performance for All State Jazz Choir is scheduled for January 27, 2024, at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. Tickets for the concert will soon be available at https://aschoir.com/festival/tickets/