AC STUDENTS SELECTED FOR ALL-STATE CHOIR
Three Angelina College students recently were honored
with their selection to the Texas Two-Year College All-State Choir.
Sophomore Music major Erin Nelson of Buffalo, TX, sophomore Esther McClure
of Nacogdoches and freshman Josh Griffin were three of 120 junior college
students chosen statewide to participate in the annual event held in San
Antonio. The conference, which culminates in the choir’s performance,
includes music directors from throughout the state who teach from
kindergarten to university level, and is held in conjunction with the
Texas Music Educator’s Association.
In addition, this year’s guest Director will be Jerry Blackstone, formerly
of the University of Michigan School of Music.
Students hoping to make the All-State Choir audition late in the fall
semester, and those auditions are divided among community colleges
according to region. The scheduled guest clinician, chosen by the choir
directors two years in advance, pre-selects the music they want the
students to perform upon their arrival in San Antonio. The All-State Choir
will work with Blackstone throughout the week before performing for nearly
15,000 educators.
AC instructor and choir director Beckie Compton said the selection of the
three AC students was the result of simple dedication and hard work on
their part.
“These students have to be dedicated, and willing to learn extra music
outside the class,” Compton said. “This level of music is such that I’m
not really able to teach it in a classroom; to earn All-State honors, they
really have to want it.”
Nelson, McClure and Griffin are each members of the AC Singers.
“I’m excited because with the AC Singers, we do show tunes and other
exciting things,” McClure said, “but this choir is going to be more geared
toward classic music. I’m looking forward to the experience.”
Nelson said, “This is exciting for me, just because I’d never really been
in a choir before. My high school didn’t have one, and the one we have at
AC is pretty small. So I think it will be very interesting to hear all
those voices onstage at once.”
For Griffin, who plans to become a music teacher, performing with the
choir will be a new experience entirely.
“In high school, our choir program was cut out before I got there,”
Griffin said.” I was in band for four years, so I never really had an
opportunity to do this. And to receive an All-State honor my freshman year
is pretty special.”
Compton noted that making the All-State Choir could lead to bigger things
for these students.
“For anyone hoping to move onto their choral opportunities at the
university level, this is a big plus, especially for Music majors,”
Compton said. “They’ll be able to show that they’ve studied with some very
prestigious conductors.”
The conference begins on Wednesday, Feb. 13th and runs through Saturday,
Feb. 16th. The concert will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.
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| ALL-STATE CHOIR – Angelina College
students Erin Nelson (seated left), Esther McClure (seated right)
and Josh Griffin recently were selected to the Texas Two-Year
College All-State Choir. They were three of just 120 Texas community
college students to receive the honor. |
