Waynedale High School choir students take their music on the road to Omaha

Five Waynedale High School choir students were among only 15 from Ohio selected for the Midwestern Region of the American Choral Directors Association 2024 Honor Choirs Concerts.

Calling the students’ taped auditions “a very, very competitive process,” Waynedale choir director Daniel Mylott said being chosen for the February concerts in Omaha, Nebraska, was a “huge honor,” earned by hours and hours of preparation.

Not only did freshmen Emma Brown and Cameron Rabatin,  junior Paige Miller and seniors Aubrey Pengal and Ben Reed put in time after school and on their own, when they arrived in Omaha they spent another 2 1/2 days perfecting their performance before the final concert at the Holland Performing Arts Center.

It’s not surprising upon hearing of the opportunity and the rigor surrounding it from Mylott, at least one of them had significant hesitation about taking on the challenge of learning pieces of music his choir director described as “very, very difficult.”

A daunting and exhilarating experience for the students

Reed’s first thought was, “Why would I ever do this?”

When he got on board with trying out, his trepidation didn’t lessen. Upon being selected and receiving the music, he recalled it was “so scary, so intimidating. I kept staring at it.”

Arriving in Omaha, he said, “I was horrified.” Recognizing the “crazy level of expectancy,” he thought, “They expect me to do awesome.”

On stage for the performance in a cathedral-like setting before a large audience, his feeling of inadequacy remained, and what ran through his mind was, “I don’t qualify to be here.”

But the doubts and anxiety were part of “what made it a memorable experience,” Reed said.

Rabatin, who performed with Reed in the Tenor-Bass Honor Choir, said, “Normally, I don’t do stuff like that,” referring to trying out for a spot. But then he thought, “I might as well.

“I procrastinate a lot,” he admitted. “It took me a long time to learn the music.”

Brown said she had previously tried out for the Tri-County Honors Choir and enjoyed the experience.

“I thought it would be nice to try to do it again,” she said.

Brown’s challenge came in memorizing the music, “figuring out (her) own part” from among her choir’s four parts.

But it was “really fun along the way,” she said. “I love to sing.”

Miller’s motivation was wanting “to prove to myself I could do it. There aren’t a lot of competitive options in (this) area,” she said. “I was really excited when I got in.”

Pengal acknowledged being “very nervous to audition because I didn’t like singing alone in front of people,” but she is glad she conquered the fear.

Cold, windy and strained voices

Learning the music was difficult, she said. “It was hard to learn the pronunciations of the songs that were in different languages,” Pengal said.

Beyond memorizing the music, another test of endurance was walking around over a 12-hour period from venue to venue, Miller said.

“And it was really windy and really cold,” Mylott added.

With 16 1/2 hours of rehearsal before the big event, strained voices were a definite possibility.

“If our voice got tired,” Reed said his director would have the students “sing through a straw.”

While physically taxing, Pengal said, “I felt like I never ran out of energy … because it was so exciting to sing such challenging songs.”

The students agreed with Mylott that the directors of the choirs among which the Waynedale students were spread were “amazing clinicians.”

Unlike what Reed expected, they and others working with them were personable, he said.

They shared their experiences and taught them new skills, Rabatin said.

One of the perks of participation was sharing the experience with like-minded people — “working with professionals and people who take (music) as seriously as you do,” Miller said.

Reed said, “I love this because everyone cares.”

“I wasn’t expecting to connect with so many different people on things outside of choir, too,” Pengal said.

Within their own group, it was “a bonding experience,” Brown said.

The students complimented Mylott for supporting them and caring for them, even taking them to the mall.

Mylott in turn credited school district personnel for supporting the program.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Waynedale choir students perform in Honor Choirs Concerts in Nebraska