Choir students competed in the All-Region contest on September 25. Thirty students participated, and 21 students progressed to the next “Pre-Area” round.

“I think the choir students did a great job at this year’s all region auditions, especially considering in-person auditions were suspended last year due to COVID,” choir director Kerry Baham said. “They work hard every day to improve their growing skills.”

Out of the 21 students that progressed to Pre-Area, senior Halle Lambert and juniors Emily Holloway and Kramer won first place in their specific divisions.

“I’ve always loved singing, but I didn’t think I was very good at it. And then in junior high, Mr. Baham told me that, yeah, I was a good singer,” Kramer said.  “And now I’m going to Pre Area, but I’m hoping to make it to area. That’s my dream.”

Students had to prepare four songs for the competition, but they only had to perform three of them. Students also had to compete with eight measures of sight reading a piece of music they had never heard before.

“Everyone is there, different schools and different voice parts and then you cannot sing, chant, whisper, or anything. So then we are just standing there trying to remember the notes,” Kramer said. “Then you go in the room, you sing those three songs, and then you do sight reading.”

Many students began preparing for the competition this summer at the SFA All State Summer Choir Camp in July. Students who could not attend the camp began preparing the first day of school.

“A lot of hours of listening to the recordings and practicing with the recording and making sure that I know what I’m doing went into preparing for the competition,” junior Sarah Kramer said. “And that I have the rhythm correctly and I have the notes right.”

The students that qualified for Pre-Area will continue to practice and prepare for the upcoming competition.

“As the grueling six month long contest continues,” Baham said. “I am confident that these singers will rise to the challenge of more difficult music and competition.”