On January 26th, six Kickapoo choir students attended the Choir All-State conference. These students were Olivia Morris, Makenna Rowe, Trinity Talmage, Madi Phillips, David Owsley, and Cj Wears. This group of students had originally auditioned in the fall to see if they could be a member of the all city choir. They all qualified for top 25 in the city for their voice part, and then could also audition for all-state. Out of all the students auditioning in Missouri, 200 got picked to rehearse and perform with the all-state choir. In all-state choir, getting there is basically winning because there is no competition once you get there. 

All-state took place from January 26-29th at the Tan-Tar-A resort in Lake of the Ozarks. Over the course of the conference the students had about 15 hours of rehearsal. They sang seven songs. Kyrie Eleison, Cum Sancto Spiritu, Os Justi, Angele Dei, I love You/What a Wonderful World, Tshela Moya/Ke Nna Yo Morena, and Swilohini. Some of the songs had not been performed many times because they were composed by the students very own director, Dr. Michael Barret. 

“Rehearsal was led by Dr. Michael Barret from South Africa. He was incredible! He showed us a lot of different techniques and we got to have fun with him at the same time,”  Morris explained.

Morris explains her favorite aspect of the conference, “One of the best parts was the fact that everyone there was extremely passionate. There was never a rehearsal where anyone gave up or sounded uninterested. I liked being around people who cared about music just as much as I do!” Morris said. 

Apart from the many hours of rehearsing, the students had a lot of fun hanging out and meeting new people at the resort. The Kickapoo students described all-state as an amazing experience. “I wouldn’t trade my time at all-state for anything, it was an honor to be able to be a part of it and be surrounded by such talented people!” Morris said.