TPS Choir students qualify for All-State

Skyler Hammons |, Tahlequah Daily Press, Okla.
·4 min read

Nov. 22—Tahlequah Middle School and Tahlequah High School choir students, several of whom have qualified for All-State, have started preparing for their upcoming concert season.

TMS music teacher Amy Wright said several THS and TMS choir students made it into at least one of the four All-State venues.

"The music teachers are usually part of two different organizations, the Oklahoma Choral Directors Association and the Oklahoma Music Educators Association," Wright said. "Each one of these entities combined they offer an All-State anywhere from fourth to 12th grade."

Wright said OkCDA has a Junior High All-State Choir for seventh through ninth grade, which featured nine TMS students this year. Six students in TMS also made it to OkMEA Children's All-State Choir. OkMEA is over the High School All-State Choir, which had two THS students qualify this year.

"The OkCDA also has High School Jazz All-State, and they only pick 24 kids across the state to be in that," Wright said. "There are close to 350 kids who are involved in Junior High All-State across the state."

Olivia Young, a seventh-grader at TMS, said she practiced every single night for her auditions for Junior High All-State, and she will now have to learn six new songs for her part in the treble choir. Olivia's advice for upcoming choir students who may want to give All-State a try is to simply work hard, as it will pay off in the end.

Jolie Tramell, a seventh-grade TMS student, can attest to this, as qualifying gave the Children's All-Stater a good feeling after the hard work paid off.

"Children's All-State is a recorded audition, but the other three are just incredibly difficult auditions," Wright said. "The kids learned three or four pieces of music, and then they find out the day before which two songs and which part of which two songs they are going to sing for their audition."

This gives students only 24 hours to prepare, before they walk into a room with a screen that prevents the competitor from seeing the judges. After a voice asks if the student is ready, music begins to play, and the competitors have to make sure they come in on the right part and note of the song.

"One mistake and they are out," Wright said. "They just have to be really on top of their game. It's extremely hard."

Wright said she is proud of her students who trained and auditioned for All-State.

"It's not our work," Wright said. "There's nothing we can do, except they have to be able to do this and do it themselves."

Jagger Valdez, an eighth-grade TMS student, said qualifying for Junior High All-State was a "cool" experience.

"You gotta practice by yourself with others, [and] sing for others. I even sang to my dog," Jagger said.

Those who qualified for All-State will go on a trip to their specific concerts and work with other All-Staters across Oklahoma. Wright said these students make friends with others from all over the state and bond over the music. Wright said students also get to meet famous composers and arraigners through the All-State experience.

Francis Louie Glover, a sixth-grader at TMS, said being a part of a select group — Children's All-State — is thrilling.

"This is my first year, and I'm nervous but excited," Glover said.

Eden Couch, a TMS seventh-grader and Children's All-State qualifier, said this her second year in All-State. She finds it interesting to not only listen to the "really good singers," but to meet with the clinicians as well.

Wright said some students who qualified for the Junior High All-State will be in the mixed chorus, and two are in the Junior High Treble Chorus this year.

TMS students who qualified for the 2024 OkMEA Children's All-State Choir include: Eden Couch, Louie Glover, Audrey Cox, Jolie Tramell, Presley Klinger, and Jude Geiger. The 2024 OkCDA Junior High All-State Choir THS members include: Payton Burson, Iris Martin, Charlie Stone, Parker Pruitt, and Jonah Geiger, who also received a three-year medal. TMS students in this division are Abel Baker, Valon Pllana, Jagger Valdez, and Olivia Young.

The THS students in the 2024 OkMEA High School All-State Choir are Matt Cantero and Lincoln Johnson, with a three-year medal. The 2024 OkCDA High School Jazz All-State Choir qualifiers are Lincoln Johnson and Ella Emberton.

What's next

The 2024 OkMEA Children's All-State Choir Concert will take place Jan. 19 at the Cox Convention Center in Tulsa. The High School All-State Choir Concert will take place Jan. 20 at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center. The High School Jazz All-State Concert and Junior High All-State Choir Concert will be Jan. 13 at the Oklahoma City Convention Center.