Four days, twelve hours of singing each day. To some, it may seem like torture, but to junior Rebecca Bradley, it is one of the best parts of her summer. While most teenagers spend their summer break lounging at the pool and hanging out with friends, Bradley attends All State Choir camps in preparation for the upcoming school year.
Students attend an All State camp in order to learn the repertoire. Most students really enjoy attending All State camp, and Bradley is one of them.
“It may sound like too much work, but I can honestly look back on my camp experiences and know how helpful and fun they were,” Bradley said.
However, the preparation doesn’t stop there. Bradley spends much of the summer practicing her music, and trying to be as prepared as possible for morning rehearsal when the school year starts.
“When we get to school in the fall, rehearsal on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with Ms. Green and Mrs. Grall start immediately. Last year, I went to every single morning rehearsal with my directors except for maybe one or two because I was sick,” Bradley said.
The All-State process is highly competitive. The first audition, Phase 1, is at the beginning of October for just girls. A vast number of girls enter the competition each year, and after the first phase, that number is drastically narrowed down. All Region auditions take place the Saturday after Phase 1.
Fifteen students per voice part make the All Region choir, and those students are the ones who get to go to Pre-Area in November. 5 singers out of the 15 per voice part are chosen to compete for a spot in the All State Choir at Area auditions. Around the state, there are 7 area auditions, and only a select number from each area are picked to have the experience of being apart of the All State Choir. Bradley was lucky enough to be one of them.
“My favorite parts of the process would be when I found out I made the 2012 All State Mixed Choir and actually performing and rehearsing with the most talented high school singers in Texas,” Bradley said.
Rebecca has attended the UNT All State camp for the past two summers. Last summer, she also attended a day camp at Plano Senior High School. This summer, she is planning to attend the UNT All State camp as well as the UT Arlington All State camp.
“Singing is my passion,” said Bradley. “It is what I want to do for the rest of my life.”
