Recently, a group of Carbon Dinos with impressive vocal talent traveled to compete in the All State Choir competition. Carbon Choral Director Arthella Williams remarked that it was an amazing experience for the students to be able to sing with the top choir students in Utah.
Based on the size of Carbon High School (CHS), the school was allowed to send up to 12 students, who prepared required repertoire, auditioned with Williams and were selected based on their skill level.
The competition is made up of the top high school choir students in the state, who prepared ahead of time on their own and through rehearsals that were conducted with Williams. The competition was hosted in Salt Lake City (SLC) on Oct. 10 through Oct. 12. While there, students rehearsed all three days with famous composer, conductor and clinician Dr. Anton Armstrong. Then, the students performed in the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Oct. 12.
“It’s one of my favorite things for my students to participate in because they learn so much from another director and other high school choir students,” Williams stated.
The 12 students that qualified for All State Choir were Hyrum Morley, Carson Frame, Kade Allen, James Bryner, Blake Grundy, Devin Bradley, Austin Engar, Shaylee Clark, Kacee Barrett, Haylie Powell, Summer Atherley and Peyton Hocanson. Below are testimonials from two of the students that participated.
“My favorite song was probably ‘Lux Aeterna’ just because of the mass amounts of emotion behind the piece and the story that came along with it. I learned a lot when it came to how different vocal tones can add different textures of sorts to pieces. It was an amazing experience to have,” said Peyton Hocanson.
“All State was simply another amazing experience this year. I’m so grateful our wonderful director Arthella Williams helps to give us such a great opportunity to learn and grow. We get to spend hours upon hours working with another professional director and singing with some of the best voices in the state. This year, I learned more about the benefits of warm-ups before singing and mature vowel sounds. I learned that you don’t talk the talk if you can’t walk the walk, and saying something is different than doing it. One thing our director told us that I loved and think will stick with me forever was a quote his mother used to say, that I think went a little something like this: ‘the absence of knowledge is ignorance… But when you have knowledge and choose not to use it, it is stupidity. Don’t be stupid,'” Summer Atherley said.