From Jan. 23 – Jan. 25, students participated in the All State performance, an annual event hosted by the Texas Private School Music Educators Association (TPSMEA). The event provides a unique opportunity for high school musicians in choir, band and orchestra to showcase their talents alongside the best performers in the state, an experience that stands apart from their typical environment.
The journey to All State is demanding, containing months of preparation and auditions. Auditions require musicians to demonstrate their mastery of a piece through multiple rounds of intense judging to get to All State. Orchestra Director Sarah Choi believes that the process of auditioning and learning from All State improves students’ musical abilities overall.
“I think the whole process is good for them to improve their form and develop into better performers,” Choi said.
For choir students, performing alongside female vocalists offered a distinct experience from their usual performances. While middle school students sing the higher parts during Evensong, the inclusion of female sopranos and altos introduced a new dynamic.
“This is one of the few chances during their high school choral experience that they have to sing with female sopranos and altos,” Upper School Choir Director Tinsley Silcox said. “It gives them the chance to sing a lot of different music that they wouldn’t normally get to sing, music that requires female voices.”
Beyond just the chance to sing a wider range of music, the event also provides students with exposure to some of the best musical instructors in the country, offering intense learning over the course of three days.
“It’s the opportunity to work with a very fine nationally known and sometimes internationally known choir conductors,” Silcox said.
For many performers, the size and scale of the performance were unlike anything they had experienced before, creating a grand, unforgettable atmosphere.
“When you sing in an all boys choir, and there are 25 to 30 of you, that is such a different experience than singing in a soprano, alto, tenor, bass choir of 200 voices,” Silcox said. “It’s powerful. It’s moving. Whatever the piece of music is, there are always going to be some amazing moments in those performances.”
