In December 2024, six Heritage students passed the first round of All-State Chorus auditions. These six students were seniors Julia Petteys, Cadin Minjarez, Caleigh Jackson, juniors Maddox Weaver and Lydia Colquette, and sophomore Hannah Johnston.
All-State Chorus is a choral event that selects students through auditions for the opportunity to participate in a weekend event that gathers the best chorus singers in the state. The auditions took place this year in Athens, GA, specifically in the Classical Center. There are typically two rounds of auditions, but the second round, which was to take place in January, was cancelled due to inclement weather. In addition to singing solo, the participants going through the audition had to sight-read three pieces of music they had never seen or heard before. Participants also had to sing Italian arias. Approximately 20,000 students are narrowed down to 500 through these two rounds of rigorous auditions. Junior Ceci Ward, who was extremely close to qualifying for the audition, said that she “didn’t pass the audition because of 0.5 of a point.”
The ones participating in chorus will be attending during the month of February. Participants might get sweatshirts this year to commemorate the experience. Since the second round isn’t happening, the results are in for the ones that are attending.
Mrs. Hamilton, our very own chorus teacher, is just one part of the reason so many of these talented students made it. Through her and the students’ hard work, these fantastic students have reached many new experiences. In a recent interview, Mrs. Hamilton said just how big of a deal it was for them to pass these auditions; “It’s a big deal. I tell the kids, I love it so much because when we go to Athens, once they make it and pass both auditions, they get to work with some really fantastic conductors.”
