Millard West’s choir and show choir students were granted the opportunity to perform at Allstate, hosted by Nebraska’s Music Educator’s Association (NMEA), from Nov. 20 through Nov. 22 for their outstanding music lineup.
During this, Millard West’s very own acapella group, Transcendence, was picked to perform a showcase of their talents on the second day of the conference. Auditions took place only a couple of weeks before the event with lots of anxiety surrounding the picks. Senior Caleb Houser was one of many who auditioned for All-State from the show choir, but it was no walk in the park for him.
“Auditions were awful, trying to get a good recording is about as luck-based as finding 20 heads facing pennies on the sidewalk,” Houser said. “Everybody’s voice sounds different as audio from a computer mic compared to real life, and I think NMEA needs to consider live auditions instead.”
After the audition picks were announced, the selected had to begin to practice for their big show. With grueling exercises to ensure their near perfection as a group, senior Olivia Swolley was a part of the group and had to endure the group’s preparations for both shows.
“Preparing for Allstate was in our large ensemble, so a lot of the time it wasn’t a one-on-one thing, it was more like, ‘Let’s go over the notes, see how it sounds together, get these words memorized,’ so that when the audition cuts came out we’d be prepared and we’d be ready to audition,” Swolley said. “Unlike our NMEA showcase, where it was a lot of one-on-one time getting to know the people in our sections, figuring out what they know, what they’re good at, and what they’re not so that we could be the best we could be.”
Making it into All-State isn’t an easy task, and very few have been able to do it while being in the choir. Junior Josh Olson was among the few students who made it into All-State without being in Transcendence.
“It was really gratifying to be selected for All-State because despite being in the top singing group for all three years I’ve been at Millard West, I still felt like I had something to prove to my peers,” Olson said. “The recognition was nice, but it also led to some mild imposter’s syndrome after realizing that some of my close friends that I thought were shoe-ins hadn’t made it.”
With the success of All-State and its conclusion, many students were left feeling a heavy weight lifted off their shoulders, as well as missing the experience. With the outstanding talent of Millard West’s choirs and show choirs, It’s safe to say that our choir will be back to All-State next year.
