Three Vian choir students make All-State Choir
Vian High School choir members Rayken Massey, Emilee Cook-Cobb and Gavin Stinnett were recently selected for Oklahoma’s Vocal All-State Choirs.
Vian High School choir members Rayken Massey, Emilee Cook-Cobb and Gavin Stinnett were recently selected for Oklahoma’s Vocal All-State Choirs.
Auditions for the prestigious choirs were held in October and November, 2022. Students began preparations for the auditions in the summer of 2022 and traveled to All-State Camp at Southern Nazarene University in Bethany in June. They completed the intense vocal training camp and started rehearsing various audition pieces. Several of the musical selections were in foreign languages, including Sotho (South African) 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 Massey made OKCDA All-State Treble Choir.
Cook-Cobb made the OKMEA All-State Treble Choir and Stinnett made the OKMEA Mixed All-State Choir. This January, Massey traveled to Oklahoma City to represent Vian at the OKCDA Concert/ Festival while Cook-Cobb and Stinnett traveled to Tulsa for the OKMEA Concert/Festival to perform in the All-State Concerts. After several days of intense rehearsals, the students performed with other All-State students from across the state.
“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,” said said Christina Howard-Herriman, Vian Choir Director.
“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. It seems they get more difficult every year; several of the pieces this time were college level musical selections!” she said.
Howard-Herriman said she pushes the students to compete and do their very best.
“I’m very proud that the Vian Choir had three make it this year! Smaller programs are generally lucky if they have one member make All-State and we had three at Vian. We’ve had a great year!” she said.
When asked about his thoughts on making All-State, Stinnett said, “Being able to make All-State is not a chance everyone gets. It takes dedication, time, responsibilities and soul. Being there helped shape me into the person I am. It showed me how important music can be to me and others. Getting there takes practice and that is all I could do. Going six months, practicing only a few songs, I’d say I was pretty prepared. I also had my doubts of not being able to make it, but Mrs. Herriman would always fix that. She made me practice every second of the day. With her being able to guide me on this journey, it has helped me better understand the person I am meant to be.”
“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. We’ve already begun rehearsing for that as well,” Herriman said.
In addition to the busy year and contests, the choir was blessed to have so many donations from very generous supporters to help with All-State costs.
The choir would like to thank the following businesses and individuals: Glenda Young, Mike Cobb, Derek and Renee Ceola, Rachel and Wes Coffey, Jessie Young, Lanna Fry, M&S Screen Printing – Emma Montgomery, John and Susan Ford, Circle R Rentals – Randy and Shawna Rogers, Mary Lewis, Brandon and Raegan King, Mitchell’s Busted Knuckle Body Shop – Kory and Stephanie Mitchell, and Cherokee Nation – Representative EO. (Jr.) Smith.
The choir’s spring concert is scheduled for 7 p.m. on May 9 at the Vian High School Cafetorium. It will be Disney-themed this year. The choir awards banquet is also scheduled for 7 p.m. on May 11. Everyone is welcome to attend these events and it is free to the community. Please mark your calendars and come out and support the Vian Choir Program!
