By Cole Klassen
Choir. This word invokes much at TPA, mostly about Cantamus and Disneyland. However there is another choir event that TPA students participated in, known as All State. I had the opportunity to talk with two of the students who participated – Chris Moffitt and Nasrynn Chowdhury.
De Equitibus: What is All State?
Chris:  The All State Choir Festival is an amazing event that gathers the 200 top high school singers in the entire state into one setting for a weekend of learning, growing, making talented new friends, and making absolutely incredible music. To get in, high school choir members must first make it into their respective Regional choir which encompasses all of the high schools in their region.
Nasrynn: It’s a choir. Basically it’s an honor choir, you have to go through another choir, a thing called Regionals, which is to filter out the weaker musicians. There are 8 regions and 200 from each region are selected for All State.
DE: What was the experience like?
Chris: The experience was amazing. I would seriously just close my eyes in the middle of rehearsals and listen to the heavenly music that was created around me. You are also surrounded by people with similar interests and talents as you which makes for a great social and bonding experience.
Nasrynn: Always an amazing experience, as I’ve gone twice before. I love the people, we talk about music or like anything. It’s really nice to be surrounded by people who really love music. Everyone really enjoys what they are doing.
DE: What advice would you have for anyone looking to get into All State?
Chris: You have to be part of your school choir so if you’re not already part of it, join next year. And then practice, practice, practice. I think the most difficult part of the audition is the sight reading portion, but it is definitely something you can practice and prepare yourself for. That is the section which distinguishes the singer from the musician. But also, regardless of how far you get in the process, any participation is a worthwhile experience.
Nasyrn: Start early, like a couple of months. It hard to get in, especially in freshman year, but still as a junior. I worked really hard on sight singing which is one of two parts of the audition, the other is a solo. Also start on the solo early on in order to gain confidence. All the practice is to gain confidence. You never really know how an audition will  go, so confidence is important.”
All State seems like a great experience, and congrats to all that auditioned and got in.