Vian High School Choir members, Zayley Cheater and Rayken Massey, were recently selected for Oklahoma’s Vocal All-state Choirs. Auditions for the prestigious choirs were held in October and November.
In June, students began preparations for the auditions in the summer of 2023 and traveled to All-State Camp at Southern Nazarene University in Bethany. They completed the intense vocal training camp and started rehearsing various audition pieces. Several of the musical selections were in foreign languages, including German and Latin.
After months of rehearsing, students traveled to East Central University in Ada, in October, and passed round one of All-State auditions.
Second round auditions were held at University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, where Zayley and Rayken both made the OKMEA 2024 Treble Choir.
The duo will travel to Tulsa in January to represent Vian Choir. The students will be there for four days for intensive rehearsals with other All-state students across the state. They will perform at the end of the week.
“The students must be dedicated to make these prestigious choirs. They are competing with all other students across the state of Oklahoma and it is very competitive. Many of the larger schools have multiple choir directors and even private voice teachers, so they are at an advantage over smaller schools like Vian,” Vian Choir director Christina Howard-Herriman, said.
“These students gave up part of their summer for camp and rehearsals at school. They have practiced after school, at home, in the car, and anywhere they could to improve and master the music.”
Howard-Herriman said it seems they get more difficult every year; several of the pieces this time were college level musical selections.
“I push the students to compete and do their very best. I’m very proud that the Vian Choir had two make it this year! Smaller programs are generally lucky if they have one member make All-state and in the past three years, we’ve had seven!” she said.
“Competitive choir season never truly ends during the school year. The competitive ensemble will compete in March at district regionals. If they qualify, they will compete at state level in April at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee,” she said.
In addition to contests, the choir’s Christmas Concert will be held Dec. 12, beginning at 7 p.m. in the cafetorium.
It is free to the public and everyone is welcome to attend.
The students are currently raising funds for All-state. If you’re interested in making a donation, mail or stop by Vian Public Schools.
If mailing, send donations to: Vian Public Schools, Attn: Choir Department, P.O. Box 434 Vian, OK 74962.
