Seven Tyrone high school singers were among the nearly 300 students who competed in Pre-Auditions for the annual District Chorus on Sunday, Oct. 16th. For the first time in Tyrone history, all the students who performed qualified for Districts, which will take place on January 11-13th.

“These students should all be congratulated for their accomplishments. They all worked really hard to be selected for District Chorus,” stated Mrs. Laura Harris, Director of Choral Music.

Top finishers for Tyrone were junior Molly Harris who ranked first among all Soprano ones and senior Lily Williams who ranked third out of 47 Alto ones.

“I honestly couldn’t believe [my ranking]. I was unsure of what the judges thought of my audition, but I was really happy and honored,” said Molly Harris.

The seven qualifying students are:

Junior Molly Harris- Soprano 1- rank #1

Sophomore Hannah Gampe- Soprano 2- rank #17

Senior Azia Barnett- Alto 1- rank #14

Senior Lily Williams- Alto 1- rank #3

Junior Tyler Eaken- Tenor 2- rank #18

Sophomore Ethan White- Tenor 2- rank #9

Senior Hunter Jackson- Bass 1; ranked as Tenor 2

“I decided to do Pre-Auds because it seemed like a good experience to try. I wanted to see what it was like. I felt so proud that all of my hard work paid off and that I am able to go to Districts,” said Hannah Gampe

To prepare for Pre-Auds, the students worked very hard to learn and perfect their part of the song, Song of Exaltation.

“I listened to the recording over the summer and once we started to learn it in class, I would review it every night,” said Tyler Eaken.

At Pre-Auds, students competed against nearly 40 other students on their voice parts. Tyrone students sat in a holding room with the other participants also in the room. Everyone of their part was assigned a number, which was the order in which you auditioned.

Every singer is judged on vocal tone, pitch, intonation, rhythm, technique and musicianship.

“[I was] nervous. I had practiced the song at least a million times before, but the pressure kept building up,” stated Hunter Jackson.

To make it past Pre-Auds for Districts and qualify for Districts, students must finish in the top 22 for their voice part. However, the Tenor two part only had 17 people, so some Basses were switched to the tenor two part such as Tyrone’s Hunter Jackson.

“I expect the audition for Regionals to be challenging, but districts will be fun to hear all of the amazing singers together in a choir,” said Azia Barnett.

Each student will be required to learn a folder of music for Districts, which will most likely contain pieces written in two different languages.

“It’s not for the weak-of-heart; you have to be brave to sing by yourself without a soundtrack,” Ethan White said.

“Shout-out to Mrs.Harris for buying us Denny’s after the audition and Texas Roadhouse in the future,” said Azia Barnett.