All State Choir is a part of the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) which is a Texas public opportunity for high school students to perform with other talented peers and learn from professional directors. At TMEA’s annual convention, four different choirs will perform, Large School Mixed Choir, Treble Choir, Tenor-Base Choir, and Small School Mixed Choir.
TMEA has a prep camp over the summer that students can take to help prepare for the auditions and performances. Choir director Aaron Bourgeois compares TMEA performances to University Scholastic League (UIL) performances in what they expect from their participants. The annual performance is on February 14th at the Henry B. González Convention Center in San Antonio.
“The performances are much different from high school choir performances because everyone there is super driven and super committed so you don’t really hear anyone talking or being out of line,” senior Anya Cherukuri said. “It’s really focused and everyone is super dedicated so the performances are really strict but they’re really fun and you can feel everyone’s passion.”
Students a part of All State Choir’s ensembles went through a competitive audition process narrowing down the amount of people selected after each round. According to Cherukuri the few singers left in the later auditions all have the same work ethic and dedication leaving the judges with a difficult decision of distinguishing who is better than others.
“The audition process was definitely super grueling,” Cherukuri said. “I have been doing it since my freshman year so I kind of have been able to get a better grasp on how to prepare for it every year but it takes a lot of work and dedication especially because it’s not something that is taught in school. You kind of have to take a lot of time out on your own. If you really want it you have to work for it yourself.”
Cherukuri and junior Faye Daughtry are the only two students who made All State from Bowie this year. According to the TMEA website, 1,810 students are selected out of the over 70,000 that audition.
“I have a private voice lesson teacher and I feel like since starting lessons with her I have gotten so much better because it lets you examine your voice from a soloistic perspective which is not usually what you do in choir,” Duaghtry said. “But with these kinds of auditions you need to be listening to your individual voice and improving your individual voice.”
Bowie has voice teachers that come to the school to offer private voice lessons for students. Students can go during FIT and a lot of the teachers are available during one of the choir class periods or student off periods.
“I do a weekly rehearsal on Wednesday afternoons while students prepare for region pre area auditions and area auditions to give them a chance to practice the audition material, they have tracks that they’re able to use outside a school as well, ” Bourgeois said. “I don’t think there is a single kid who makes All State that didn’t put a lot of effort in. It’s not something that people stumble into, ever. It’s a very rewarding experience to be able to be part of and we are super lucky to have such talented kids on the campus.”
