by Madison Newton
Two Republic students are members of the Missouri All-State Choir. Last month, singers in the southwest district auditioned for the choir at Southwest Baptist University. Republic High School senior Ariana Givens was chosen as sixth soprano. There are six people chosen for each section from each district. RHS junior Kira Allen was chosen as an alternate.
The path to all-state choir begins with all-district auditions. “They choose 25 people from each section to audition for all-state. You audition for all-state during the district practice,” said Givens. “It is a very long and stressful process.”
After being chosen to attend all-state choir, the singers will begin practices at the beginning of January to prepare for their performance at the end of the month. The choir will perform at the Missouri Music Educators Association Convention.
Givens was previously seen striding across the stage as Mrs. Potts in the Tiger Theatre’s production of The Beauty and the Beast. Allen played Belle. While both events require some serious vocal skills, Givens notes their respective uniqueness.
“With choir, a lot of what I do is very technical. You want to be able to capture an audience, but your sound also has to be really precise. In musical theatre, you are playing a character. There is an equal amount of work in both, but in theatre I am mainly focusing on being entertaining. In choir, I am trying to sound perfect,” she said. “If I’m in choir, I prefer choir. If I’m in theater, I prefer theater. It’s really just what I’m doing at the present and really living in that moment.”
The RHS choir have just finished their Christmas tour, so she plans to spend her time preparing for all-state choir. You can catch their performance in Osage Beach on January 25.