Fifteen students will be competing in the Pre-Area choir competition at West on Nov. 11 in order to continue on to Area.
“It’s a big honor to be a part of the All-State competition because our area is really competitive,” senior Megan Fass said. “We usually do really well.”
All-State is a choir competition in which students compete against each other and students around the region for limited spots in a Regional Honor Choir. The competition provides the music that the students use for auditions.
“The process is nerve-wracking because you want to beat out all the other choir kids,” junior Lance Villarreal said. “You are competing against your friends.”
The students receive the music in early spring of the previous year and have until the competition to prepare.
“You’re given a set of music and are told to learn it and be ready to perform any part of it at the audition,” senior Adam Woodward said.
Choir students that are in Syncopation, Rhapsody or the Honor Choir are required to compete, but other students can choose to audition.
“It’s highly recommended that you compete,” Woodward said. “You can get college scholarships if you place high enough.”
This year, 44 West students made the All-Region choir with two alternates, breaking the Region 25 record.
“We work daily to practice for the auditions,” Villarreal said. “We have to pay attention to not only singing the right notes, but the meaning of the song and how we sing it.”
The All-State competition splits Texas up into regions, and the winners of those regions are asked to perform together.
“Every voice part that has more than 42 people audition to move on to yet another audition,” Fass said. “Then that audition is for 15 spots, which is Pre-Area. They also get to perform in the All-Region Choir. It gets a little confusing sometimes.”
According to the Texas Music Educators Association, over 55,000 students across the region compete for just 1,500 spots.
“I know some people go to summer camps to train for All-Region,” Villarreal said. “It’s an intense process.”
On Nov. 1, the students selected to be in the All-Region choir will perform at Allen High School.
“After hours of practicing the music, there are two things we hope for,” Woodward said, “and that is to do our best, and to not get sick.”