Out of the 800 students who competed at districts on Sept. 12, 360 advanced and made a region choir, 30 of which were Prosper High School Students. At the auditions on Saturday, Oct. 14, students received their placement. 13 students placed in the Region Mixed Choir, which puts them in the top 15 voices of their part. Five of the singers finished in a top-five chair. The students who made the Region Mixed Choir will advance on their journey to All-State Choir.
Choir members started the preparation process prior to the start of this school year. Junior Brandon Rodriguez, a bass one, said his audition room contained numerous talented individuals, a total of about 42.
“It’s this whole process you have to go through,” Rodriguez said. “There’s four different rounds in order to make it to All-State.”
Rodriguez said making it to All-State comes with many different rewards. This is his third time placing overall, but his first time placing in top three.
“Along with the awards, you get to sing in the All-State Choir, which is a very big accomplishment in and of itself,” Rodriguez said. “Prosper High School is one of the best, and I’m really excited about the future.”
Senior Jaxon Tan said he felt prepared going into the competition.
“Mrs. Chamberlain, Mr. Keen (PHS Choir directors), and the choir program provided so many opportunities for us to practice the music, the cuts, and the whole region process in general,” Tan said. “This has been the highest I’ve placed since last year.”
This is Tan’s second year competing to be in an All-Region Choir as a tenor two. He will be advancing to the next round.
“I feel really prepared,” Tan said. “I’m really excited to move on and see how far I can go.”
This is sophomore Justin Alfano’s second year in choir, and he said there was a lot of preparation that went into competing at the audition.
“I went to a college All-State camp at UNT to help prepare for the music and get familiar with it,” Alfano said. “Even though it was a long time coming, I was still having to work on it.”
Despite being an underclassman, Alfano said he felt even with all the other competitors. He ended up placing 4th chair at the audition.
“It’s just the amount of work you put in,” Alfano said. “That’s my perspective on it.”
Sophomore Spencer Frederick said he had somewhat of an idea of what to expect going into the competition.
“I prepared as best as I could and put a lot of work in,” Frederick said. “It went really well because I’m really high up now.”
Frederick is not only a part of both the PHS Choir, but the Mighty Eagle Band as well, where he plays the tuba. Both activities he said, are very time-consuming.
“I have to work it out and really place my time well,” Frederick said. “For example, the day of All-Region, I had the choir audition in the morning and then had to drive over to band competitions after that. I have to be smart about how I spend my time with both.”
Senior Sarah Nafziger is an alto one and placed 11th chair in the audition. She is also one of the singers who will be moving on the next level of competition.
“The process was very hard,” Nafziger said. “You’re competing with other people who have the same talent as you, so you have to be different than them in any way you can. You have to add dynamic contrast, details, and inflection rather than just singing the notes.”
Nafziger said she is most looking forward to singing and competing with her friends.
“Building relationships with other people in other schools, and just coming together and singing is the best part,” Nafziger said. “That’s what I love doing.”
The region concert will take place on Saturday, Nov. 4 at McKinney North High School. The Pre-Area competition will take place on Nov. 28 at Lebanon Trail High School.
