Twenty of the 23 students who auditioned for All-Region Choir last Saturday will advance to Pre-Area Choir auditions Dec. 5 at Bushland High School. Members who made the All-Region choir will participate in an all-day clinic tomorrow, which will conclude with a concert held at WTAMU’s Mary Moody Hall tomorrow at 7 p.m. with no admission fees.

The top five of each section will be selected from Pre-Area auditions to advance to Area. From Area, the top 12 of each section will advance to the State mixed choir, and the top five of each section will advance to the State men and women’s choirs. State auditions will be held Jan. 11 in Abilene.

“The short four weeks we had to learn our new music made me feel we had to really cram the new music into our memory with a lot more practicing at home and with Mr. Farren,” junior Aaron Hughes said. “The number of students who advanced after the short time made me really proud to be in the Canyon choir program.”

Farren said Canyon had the best percentages of students advancing compared to other schools. Farren said Canyon’s biggest competitions for best percentage were Tascosa and Amarillo High.

“For us to not only be hanging with them but to be beating them is a true testament to how much our kids work,” choir director Brandon Farren said. “Every kid we brought was ready. We didn’t bring any slugs.”

Farren said he believes Canyon students had the most success in the sight reading portion of the audition.

“The sight reading was a lot more difficult than I was expecting, but I felt really prepared going in because that’s a big part of choir for Mr. Farren,” senior Morgan Finke said.

Students who participate in the entire All-State process compete for a total of six months starting in June. They spend multiple hours a week in almost any available practice area to memorize their three new pieces for each round of auditions.

 “This next set of music is really really difficult,” Farren said. “It’s very rhythmic, not something that you can just pick up and learn in a week.”

As a previous region chair member and recent judge in the All-Region auditions, Farren said students who wish to advance should learn their music, have mature tonality and then worry about musicality because the judges want to make sure they have both talent and abilities.

“Being in Mr. Farren’s choir for four years now has helped me improve my tone and realize its importance,” Finke said “I know that getting in the right state of mind for each audition is one of the most important things.”

Soprano 1

Bailey Deberry-1^st Chair

Morgan Finke-3^rd Chair

Sarah Williams-6^th Chair

Soprano 2

Madison Younger-4^th Chair

Adrianna Ortiz-6^th Chair

Hannah Dye-8^th Chair

Maddie Farren-11^th Chair

Chayse Armstrong-12^th Chair

Carley Robinson-14^th Chair

Alto 1

Hannah Williams-3^rd Chair

Kayla Miller-11^th Chair

Alto 2

Abby Franks-5^th Chair

Georgia Hansen-9^th Chair

Tenor 1

Shane Price-2^nd Chair

Colton Eder-3^rd Chair

Tenor 2

Zack Wilcox-4^th Chair

Trevor Glenn-6^th Chair

Bass 1

Christian Farren-2^nd Chair

Bass 2

Aaron Hughes-4^th Chair

Jacob Jordan-8^th Chair