In a dazzling display of vocals, six exceptional vocalists from Tyrone Area High School took center stage at the PMEA District 6 Choir Festival from January 7th to January 9th, and two will move on to Regionals.
To participate in the district festival, students had to audition and be selected from pre-auditions.
To prepare for Districts, Regionals, and States, students are given a music folder and voice part recordings of each song that they are to use to practice their music in their free time.
The Tyrone students who advanced from Pre-Auds to Districts were sophomore Ryleigh Holmes and seniors Hailey Lowery, Lydia Meredith, Reilly Rawlings, Braylinne Shaw, and Addison Warren.
Auditions for Regionals and States are similar to Pre-Auds for Districts, except that there are two or three sections that students will be asked to sing. Each section is not always in the same song, so students must know every piece of music extremely well to be able to anticipate anything.
Senior Reilly Rawlings will move on to Regionals for the second time in his high school career.
“It was the greatest musical experience I have ever had,” Rawlings said of his first trip to Regionals. “I learned so much. I feel super proud of myself for working hard enough to be selected. It shows me that my hard work really paid off.”
When Rawlings heard his name as the 8th Chair, his initial reaction was relief.
“I knew my audition was good, but I was still nervous because you never know what the judges thought,” Rawlings said.
Senior Braylinne Shaw was the other Tyrone student to advance to Regionals. This will be her first experienceat Regionals.
“Knowing that I made it to regionals was just the cherry on top of the District festival. I was already having a great time there, singing all day and working on our music for the concert,” said Shaw.
Shaw was named the 11th Chair for the Alto 2 section.
“Being selected to be in the choir for regionals was a very rewarding feeling. When the lists came out on who made it to regionals, I was really excited. I worked pretty hard on the music and am really proud of myself overall. I had a great time at the districts festival, and am super grateful and excited to go to regionals,” Shaw said.
The PMEA Region 3 Choir Festival Concert will be on February 20th, 2026, at 7 pm at Forest Hills Jr. Sr. High School.
