Junior High/9th Grade All-State Honor Choir

Please check back soon for more information regarding the 2018 Junior High/9th Grade All-State Honor Choir.

Conductor: Mr. Anthony Trecek-King, Artistic director and conductor of the Boston Children’s Chorus. 

Eligibility: All applicants must sing under the direction of and be recommended by a current member of the American Choral Directors Association, California Music Educators Association, or Southern California Vocal Association, who is herein referred to as Sponsor.

Timeline:

  • February 15, 2018: Honor Choir Registration, San Jose State University, San Jose, California
  • February 15-17, 2018: Honor Choir rehearsals
  • February 17, 2018: Junior High/9th Grade and Men’s Honor Choir Concert (Time TBA), St. Joseph Cathedral, San Jose, Ca

Financial Commitment
Audition fee: $15 (non-refundable)
Participation fee: $210 (non-refundable) includes expenses for Honor Choir conductor, accompanist,t shirt, rehearsal and performance facilities, music packet and rehearsal voice files, concert program, office materials, digital video and audio downloads of the concert, and miscellaneous costs.
This fee does not include housing, meals, or travel.

Housing
The designated Honor Choir hotels will be listed in the acceptance packet. Students are required to provide and pay for their own housing.
Chaperones
Each Honor Choir participant must be accompanied to San Jose by a parent or other designated chaperone, age 21 or older. It is permissible for one chaperone to
be responsible for more than one singer.
Meals
Singers and chaperones are responsible for all meal costs in San Jose. We will be rehearsing on the San Jose State, and there are many inexpensive food options around, including the student union.
Travel
Honor Choir participants and chaperones will arrange and pay for their own travel.

Sample All-State Rehearsal Schedule

Thursday
12:30-4:00pm First Rehearsal (SJSU campus)
4:00-5:00pm Short break
5:00-6:30pm Rehearsal (SJSU campus); after rehearsal, get a good dinner and get to bed early for tomorrow’s busy day!

Friday
8:30-11:30am Rehearsal (SJSU campus)
1:00-3:30pm Rehearsal (SJSU campus)
TBA Honor Choir Exchange Concert (St. Joseph’s Cathedral)
TBA Sound Check at St. Joseph’s Cathedral

Saturday
TBA Warm-up and Final Prep (SJSU campus)
TBA Walk to St. Joseph’s Cathedral
TBA All-State Concert at St. Joseph’s (Junior High/9th Grade and Men’s)

Concert

Online Application Information

Up to 135 singers for each Honor Choir will be selected by audition. All applicants must be sponsored by a current member of CCDA or CMEA, and may be members of school, church, and/or community choral organizations.

Auditions will be online through Opusevent.com. Audition information will be posted shortly.

Required Vocal Audition Elements

Element 1

Upper Range Vocalization (determine your highest pitch and sing an a cappella ascending major scale up to that pitch from low “do” to high “do”). Either solfege or a neutral syllable is acceptable.

Element 2

Lower Range Vocalization (determine your lowest pitch and sing an a cappella descending major scale down to that pitch from high “do” to low “do”). Either solfege or a neutral syllable is acceptable.

Element 3

“My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” (America): Sing the first verse unaccompanied beginning on the pitch designated according to your chosen voice part.

(Soprano and Tenor: F; Alto and Bass: D flat)

* Students should not say their name, teacher’s name, or school name.

Directors: Please read these helpful hints for recording:

-Files must be in mp3 format in order to upload to Opusevent

-It is helpful to say the name of the ascending and descending scale so adjudicators know the student’s range (ex: C major ascending, A flat major descending).

-Please make sure that all effects are OFF when you are recording. Garage Band can default to a reverb effect when you are recording voices, which can distort the audition recording.

-LISTEN to your uploads after you put them on Opusevent to make sure you have the right tracks uploaded in the right place.

Junior High All-State Chairperson

Amanda Isaac
Choral Director, Norris School District, Bakersfield, Ca

Future Junior High All-State Honor Choir Activities

  • TBA