Malia Riggs
Elmore Autauga News
Five students have been selected to represent the Marbury High School Choir at the All State Choir Festival in Birmingham this March. Tenor, Mark Terry and Bass, Carter Ingram, Cody Riddle, Reese McNeal and Tyler Barentine were the only students from Autauga County selected to attend the festival based on audition performances.
The All State Choir Festival will be held February 29 through March 2nd where a final performance will take place at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex where over 200 choir students were selected from all over Alabama to perform.
“It’s a blessing to have these kids as part of the Marbury Band family and with us being a small school to have that many kids get selected, it’s an incredible thing. It is something we are very blessed to have,” Marbury High School band and choir director Brett Johnson said.
Johnson stressed that being a part of band and choir at Marbury High School over the years is more than just teaching a class and music, it becomes a fast family.
“I am so happy to have the chance to take part in this year’s All State Choir, and grateful to have a choir director like Mr. Johnson who pushes us to succeed. Thanks to him and the hard work put in by my friends and I, we now have a once in a lifetime opportunity to travel, sing, and meet other talented singers from all over Alabama,” 12th grade tenor Mark Terry said.
The All State Festival is essentially a music workshop for students to attend and learn from the best of the best in the state. Through the audition process students are selected for boys choir, girls choir and a mixed choir, consisting of around 100 to 150 students per each respective choir.
“I’m super glad that I have the opportunity to participate in the All State Choir this year. To say that I’m excited is an understatement! I made All State Choir and get to go there with some of my best friends. Music is my passion and I love that I get to share it with others,” 11th grade bass Cody Riddle said.
The choirs are also broken down into four parts, a Tenor 1, Tenor 2, Base 1 and a Base 2, where the students will go on to sing and be led by the best teachers and student singers in the state.
The students from Marbury will be participating in just the boys choir where Johnson stated this is a fantastic chance for these boys to learn and grow because at Marbury they participate in a mixed boys and girls choir.
“For the boys, this is a wonderful opportunity. Our choir is about 80 strong here at Marbury but we rarely get the opportunity to have just the girls sing only or just the boys sing only. A lot of times in class we have to broad brush over everybody, to keep kind of generalization, for girls and boys. When they go to All State, they get something that is specialized to just the boys’ choir,” Johnson said.
Preparations for All State auditions start early. The Students that wish to audition receive their music as early as September to practice and prepare as some of the music can be in foreign languages. This year a song the boys had to learn is in Italian, Johnson confirmed.
“They get their music about two months ahead. It’s a balancing act in choir class because we’re also getting ready for our concerts at school. But I try to supplement some time to where the kids can practice on their own. While those kids are practicing for All State, it gives me the chance to work with them and then others on an individualized basis,” Johnson said.
During the audition, Johnson confirmed that judges are looking for students that perform with musical accuracy in their preparations, using the correct vowel sounds for that piece, using correct pronunciations and wording if singing in a foreign language as well as singing on key and the right note.
“I’m very glad I have the opportunity to travel and participate in the All State Choir. I believe it is a great way to expand my knowledge of music and open new possibilities in my future,” 12th grade bass Reese McNeal said.
Across the state, Johnson guessed that around 3,000 students audition and only around 350 to 450 get selected in total to participate in the All State Choir Festival.
“They’re looking for accuracy and looking for how the kids that are auditioning come together to produce a good sound, because sometimes a kid will do well, but they may not be a good fit for what the judges are looking for. Basically, they’re assessing them on their ability level and what the director needs for the choir. It can be a daunting process and it’s tough to make it to All State. We are very lucky because we were the only five to be selected from Autauga County,” Johnson said.
During the All State Festival vocalists, music teachers and other professionals give the students educational pointers and generalized, as well as individualized, feedback about their singing and how they learn songs. At the end of the festival the students perform a free concert that’s open to the public.
“All these kids that made the All State Choir are actually in the band as well, so I get to see these kids twice a day in class. Just seeing how they interact with other students and how music has played such a positive role in their lives and the positivity they bring to the school with these accolades and others, is a very humbling experience,” Johnson said.
But after the new year for Terry, Ingram, Riddle, McNeal and Barentine it’s crunch time as the festival starts at the end of February. To follow along with the boys’ success, the Marbury Band and Marbury High School have a Facebook group as well as a website that will be updated with the most recent news regarding the All State Choir Festival.
