For the first time in three years, students from Central have made it into the Missouri All-State Choir. Two students in one hundred seventy-six may not seem like a big deal, but juniors Greta Rosenstock and Aidan McCarter went through an extensive process to make it to such an impressive group.

“The All-State Choir is a select ensemble of students across Missouri who come from different regions and pass through different levels [of choirs] to get in,” choir teacher Mr. Ben Silvermintz said.

Getting into the All-State choir takes a while. First, students must audition for the All-Suburban Choir. For this students must select and practice a song of their own choosing and then perform thirty seconds of it in a blind audition. Students select songs a few weeks beforehand.

“I practiced [my All-Suburban] song a good deal,” Rosenstock said. “You [also] had to sight read.”

The next step is to actually make it into the St. Louis Suburban District Choir. If a student makes this and are in the top twenty percent of your vocal range you’re eligible to audition for All-State. Out of that twenty percent, four people from each of the eleven districts gets in.

“Once I heard I was eligible I was honored, so I figured I would audition,” McCarter said.

Since only a select group of people can even audition, it was very shocking to Rosenstock that she made it.

“Mr. Silvermintz called me and I was expecting to hear that I didn’t make it because it’s so difficult to get in,” Rosenstock said. “[He told me] congratulations you made the All-State Choir and I literally jumped. I couldn’t stop smiling.”

Mr. Silvermintz’s phone call gave a similar reaction to McCarter. Silvermintz called him and asked about the All-Suburban clinician.

“I told him I thought he was great; the director was very energetic and it was a lot of fun. So he told me ‘well, you’ll have to tell me what you think of the All-State clinician, too, because you made it.’ You could hear [Silvermintz] smiling over the phone, and I couldn’t keep from smiling, too,” McCarter said.

Unlike All-Suburban, everyone auditioning for All-State uses the same song. They find the song posted online and practice with a recording that does not have their voice type in it; for example, Rosenstock practiced using a recording with only soprano, tenor, and bass so that she can practice singing her own part loud enough.

“You can put your own unique style in your All-Suburban audition, but both [auditions require] CDs that you have to conform to when auditioning,” McCarter said.

Students then perform the song with the certain recording in front of judges. There is another sight reading portion, as well.

Both McCarter and Rosenstock are very excited for this experience. The members have only a few rehearsal before their Lake of the Ozarks performance. At Tan-Tar-A they will perform their songs and have a three-day vacation.

The audition process was similar for Rosenstock and McCarter, both had particular reasons they wanted to audition. For Rosenstock it was her love of choir.

“I thought this would be a great opportunity and I wanted to become more of a part of choir,” Rosenstock said.

McCarter, on the other hand, thought this would play a good role in his future. McCarter wants to go to college and major in music composition and believes this would be very beneficial.

“I absolutely want a future in music,” McCarter said. “Every time I sing with anyone new it improves my knowledge and I’m better able to understand what sounds good. The more experience I have the better my writing will become.”