The Audition

On Saturday, I auditioned for the Iowa All-State Chorus. It is the highest honor that a singer can get in the state of Iowa. It was an all day process that went in phases for me that could be put with the song I played on my iPod.

The day began at 4:30 am. Everyone auditioning from my school went to Happy Chef for breakfast at 5:15. I had oatmeal. We then went to Kennedy to warm up and prepare for the day. We went through all the parts we thought would be on the audition and then we loaded the bus. After an hour trip of trying to stay awake so that our voices would stay warmed up we arrived at West Delaware Elementary School, the sight of the auditions. We stood out in the cold with the unorganized mass of people waiting to get in the building. When they did, everyone flooded in, racing for the gym to claim their spot for home room. The Kennedy group calmly went to the cafeteria and setup camp there. Our director read through the cuts we would have to sing and we marked them all in our music. Prior to All-State, we had attended two mock audition sessions to prepare us for the auditions and the cuts that were chosen were all ones we had previously done at one of the mock auditions. I was feeling completely ready.



The next few hours were driven by "It's my life" by Bon Jovi. I was practicing every minute in my head and every chance my group had we were working on it together. Most of the time before our audition someone in my group was playing pitches at another groups audition. That made it hard to practice ensemble which was a crucial audition element. We knew that it was now or never when we got to the audition. our warm up went extremely well and, when we believed we were ready, we departed for the walk of fear. Once you left the warm up room you had to go up a flight of stairs and down a long hall all the way to the end and all in dead silence. This was the walk of fear. that was the moment that it really hit me that I should be nervous for what was about to come.

The audition went very well. The group sounded great and I couldn't have been happier about the performance. Then came the waiting. we finished at 11:50 am and the list for recalls wasn't supposed to come out until 2:30. I was trying hard to be patient. I had brought along homework but I had no focus for that. All I could think and wonder was whether I had made the recall list or made it in from the first round. I wanted to make it in from the first round because recalls are very hard to get in by but, if I was being realistic, I knew my only shot was to make it in by a recall.

When the list finally came out at about 3:30, an hour late based on their time, I wasn't on the list. In fact, only the best people in my eyes got recalls which meant that I was almost certainly not in All-State. That brought me to "Fix You" by Coldplay.



I had tried my best and I felt that I had not succeeded. I didn't know what I could have done better at to get a recall and have a chance at making All-State. At that point people who had not made the recall list were allowed to leave. I thought about going home but for some unknown reason, I felt I needed to stay. I felt terrible sitting around knowing that I had nothing else to do that day and yet I continued to do just that. My friends and I kept throwing ideas of what could have happened or whether we were on the first round accepted list but in reality, no one could have guessed what would really happen.

Around 5:30 the lists went up for the first round accepted. On them were the names of three of my best friends and ME. I HAD MADE IT IN THE FIRST ROUND! I was suddenly a celebrity it seemed. i was showered in hugs and hand shakes and congrats from everyone. I was so excited and shocked. The next song was a cheer for my school and myself "We are the Champions" by Queen.



We had a tenor 1, a tenor 2, a baritone (me), and a Bass but we didn't have a girl make it in the first round. Around 6:00, the girls' recall accepted list went up. we only had one alto on it and no sopranos. It took 'till almost 7:00 before the guys recall accepted list went up. On it was another tenor 1 and bass.

In the end, my school got seven people into All-State including me. I am super excited and happy about how it all played out. I feel bed for the altos and sopranos but I'm sure we will get them in next year. I know All-State is going to rule just based on the people going from my school. I think that I have finally broken the junior slump I refered to earlier on my blog and entered a new chapter in my life. One that includes me being an All-Stater.