Megan Barber
Franklin Free Press
As a middle-school student, it can be intimidating to put yourself out there in a competition. However, six students from Russellville Middle School pushed aside their fears and auditioned for the Alabama All State Chorus. These students were selected to perform with other students around the state in April at Samford University in Birmingham.
The six students chosen are eighth-graders Patrick Crummie and Elizabeth Pierce and seventh-graders Sarah Grace Kimbrough, Lexie Glass, Haylee Hamilton and Ashton Shipley.
“Each student had to learn the music prior to the competition,” said Emily Rush, who teaches Middle School Chorus. “It was complex concert music that included foreign languages. During the audition, they had to sing from any part of a song, and they did not know which part until they began auditioning.”
Crummie and Pierce were chosen for the Middle School Mixed component. Crummie sings Bass 2, and Pierce sings Soprano.
“I feels really good to be selected to All State Chorus,” said Crummie, who will participate in the event for his second time. “The music was harder this year. Last year my dad helped me, but this year I learned it by myself. I can not wait to go again.”
The seventh-grade girls were selected for the Middle School Treble component. Hamilton and Kimbrough sing Soprano 1, and Shipley sings Soprano 2. Glass is the only Alto of the four girls.
“I did not know what to expect,” said Shipley about auditioning. “But I am excited about going to All State Chorus.”
The four seventh-grade girls worked together to learn their music. A lot of their help came from Hamilton’s mom, Jennifer Hamilton, a Russellville High School graduate who attended All State Chorus when she was in school.
Several RHS students were also selected to attend All State Chorus as well as All State Show Choir. The students selected are Emili Crummie, 11th grade; Charlie Gordon, 10th grade; Destiny Cooper, ninth grade; Leah Nix, 10th grade; and Savannah Mills, 12th grade.
In order to be selected to All State Show Choir, the participants must also be selected for All State Chorus in the high school division. During the audition for All State Show Choir, the students had to learn four songs and sing them among a group of other participants. After the singing assessment, the students had to learn a dance combo and perform the steps before the judges.
The music for auditions for the high school students were on a more advanced level than the middle school students’ auditions.
“In high school, we sing college-level music, while middle school students learn high school-level music,” said Gordon, who has gone to All State for four years now. “You have to do more of the work by yourself.”
Although the work had to be done more individually, the RHS students did help one another practice.
“We helped each other a lot to learn the music,” said Nix, who has participated in All State Chorus since eighth grade. “With us, it is not competitive inside the school, just with other schools.”
Added Cooper, who will make her second trip to All State this year, “I liked how supportive and encouraging everyone was to each other.”
