Black curtains all around. Unable to see the judges on the other side, they are there, ready to listen to the performance. The small sound of typing and writing coming from behind a black wall, separating the student(s) and the judges, as they take notes ranking the competitors’ voices.

On Sat, Jan. 6, 24 students competed in the Area Choir Competition for a chance to win a spot on the state choir. Later that day, 15 students advanced, creating a new school.  

“The most students I’ve ever had was 12 and that’s the school record,” Head Choir Director Brandon Farren said.

The choir competition started in August, with four different levels to progress through, starting with district, region, pre-area, and area which is the all-state audition. Competing against all sizes of schools from 1A to 6A opposed to.

“That’s why this is such a really big deal,” Farren said. “You have 15 kids against all the high schools in West Texas. It’s quite an honor.”

Both choir directors said they are extremely honored by how much effort the students put into the competition and preparing for it. Seeing the students succeed after everything they worked so hard to prepare.

“It’s really cool because everybody, all these directors, are flooding these boards to go see the numbers,” Assistant Choir Director Anthony Vickery said. “You just really hope that your kids got the result they deserved that their work cut out for them. I was just incredibly grateful for the opportunity and I’m grateful to work in such a cool program.”

The students take time out of their days, whether that be before after school, weekends,  and/or whenever they have time. Spending over six months preparing, a tremendous commitment. Seeing students making it this far, not once, but various times.

“I was excited,” junior Megan Pullen said. “This is my second year to make it so I was actually more nervous this year because I really wanted to make it again. You just have to go in there confidently knowing that you know that you’ve practiced and you’re prepared.”

Early February, they will be performing with other students all across the state who also made it.

“Now that I’ve made it, I don’t have to compete anymore,” Pullen said. “We get to sing with all the other people across the state who made it and it’s really cool. It’s this really big choir, and you have them bring in clinicians, it’s really fun.”

The students don’t do this process all alone, they have a close-knit community some would call a family. They will be there for one another, cheering each other on. Being there encouraging, comforting, rallying, behind each other creating a bond which keeps Canyon, Canyon.

“There’s just an immense sense of family in this program,” Vickery said. “That contributes to that success. It’s not the success of a bunch of individuals when you think about it, everyone pushes one another and picks up their part of the load.”

All 15 All-State Students
Large School: Megan Pullen, Grace Vareed, Trace Thomas, Duncan Culbert, & Zaddok Mullins
Small School: Landry Bice, Maci Huddleston, Ellie Talley, Presley Sams, Ruby Talley, Jaidyn Weavers, Cadence Brown, Ava Haddock, Kaysley Owen, & Sebastian Remlinger