Nearly two dozen choir members will be competing this Saturday in the second round of regional auditions leading up to the Texas All-State choir competition.

        “Region is a lot of hard work but I think it’s fun, and a great way to learn some new and different music,” junior Blake Herring said.

        In the All-Region competition, the students sing three state-chosen pieces of music for the judges, who are hidden behind a curtain. Students are also judged on their ability to sight-read, which is performing a piece of music that the competitors have never seen before accurately.

        “Region has made me work very hard on aspects I don’t usually focus on, such as sight reading,” sophomore Madeline Nelson said.

        There are many phases to the competition. The competition began on Tuesday, with almost 600 singers competing in the first round.  This Saturday, those who made it through will compete again, this time against a much smaller field, but also with a much smaller chance of advancing.

        “During phase one and phase two, the students are judged over the same music,” head choral direction Bethany Stuard said. “During the first round, they narrow the women’s sections down from about 160 to the top 42 singers, so on Saturday at phase 2 only the top 42 chairs will compete, along with all of the men, and at that point they’ll be placed in chair order.”

If the students make it through phase two, it all depends on their chair number.

“The first fifteen chairs will be in the All-Region mixed choir,” Stuard said. “And the next 21 chairs after that in the women’s sections will be in the all region treble choir, and the next five freshmen chairs after that will make a freshman honor choir.”

For many singers, this is their moment to shine.

“It’s a difficult, long, and stressful process,” sophomore Caroline Vitanza said. “But it’s fun to get the chance to learn new music and go against people from all over the region.”

Despite the difficulty the challenging music presents, singing is a passion for most, if not all, of the region competitors, and most of them really enjoyed learning new music and growing as singers.

        “I had to learn the music in two weeks, so that was kind of difficult, but  I like music and the songs we’re singing are really pretty,” freshman Mallory Immel said.

Saturday’s competition will more serious, but most of the competitors feel ready for the challenge.

“It’s going to be tough, but I think I can do it,” sophomore Riley Smith said. “And if not, at least I made it this far!”

 The following students moved on to Saturday’s competition:

Soprano 1

Shelby Johnson

Taylor Todd

Haley Whitacre

Meredith Bergwall

Cassidy Fuller

Jaden Jostrand

Soprano 2:

Anna Claire Goodroe

Kennedy Miller

Gracie Berrett

Caroline Vitanza

Courtney DuVal

Rebecca Bradley

Riley Smith

Alto 1:

Amy Bogucki

Rachel Jackson

Zoe Kahana

Whitney Hyde

Savannah Hanson

Alto 2:

Pierce Goddard

Jordan Toomey