One-thousand singers all fighting to become number one in their division.  The only thing standing in their way, is each other.

In September, students from all over the Houston area competed in an annual 4-step competition; the All-State Competition, District, Region, Pre-Area, and Area.  

These contests are the four auditions students participate in to achieve the ultimate goal of singing in the All-State choir in Austin which is an elite group of high school singers from all over Texas; only the best of the best are able to be a part.

Magnolia West sent 24 students from the Mustang Choir program to the first round of auditions; District auditions. District auditions, held at Conroe High School in the cafeteria, had singers arrive, fill the room with competition, and then get comfortable.  

District begins promptly at 7 am and can end anywhere from 5 pm to 7 pm. Once registration has concluded, the audition cuts are passed out to each individual voice part – Bass, Tenor, Alto, Soprano – and everyone is only allowed to practice the cuts twice.

After everyone has practiced, the competition begins. The singers are called into their audition room one by one and are critiqued by a panel of four judges; to keep judges from being bias, a curtain is put up between singer and judge.

About 60 students are assigned to each audition competition room; this means all of the girls or guys in the same room compete against each other. The person you’re sitting next to could be the singer who kicks you out of the competition or vice versa.

This competition can get pretty heated at times, especially with female singers.

Sometimes it appears that the guys like to act all confident and relaxed while the girls try their best to psych out their competition. Singing as loud as they can, showing off their decorated letterman jackets, giving backwards compliments, and throwing away other singers’ audition cuts are a few of the ways girls try to get ahead in this competition.

As the day goes on; eventually every student has sung their limit, and everyone anxiously waits for results. The director walks out of the back room and into the cafeteria; everyone erupts in whoops and cheers knowing that results are about to be announced.

The head director announces by voice part, first Bass, then Tenor, Soprano, and finally Alto. Magnolia West’s results were that out of the 24 students, 17 advanced. 

“No!” junior, Jacquie Berry said when asked if she would advance to Region or not.

“I was hoping to, but I tried not to have high expectations,” sophomore Daphne Smith said.  

Both Smith and Berry advanced to the next level of competition.  

All of these students are currently working very hard to do well at the Region competition.

In addition to auditions, they were able to take a break from competing by performing at the Mustang Choir’s annual “Short & Sweet” Concert at the end of September.

The concert began with the Varsity Women’s choir performing The National Anthem, and ended with every choir performing a rendition of “My Country Tis of Thee.”

After the choirs beautiful performance, everyone exited the auditorium to enjoy delicious cupcakes made by the culinary students and to view the talented artwork presented by art students.  After a tough competition, this celebration was a night full of family fun and entertainment.  

Listed below are the talented singers who have advanced

to Region auditions on October 17th – 

Jacquie Berry, Jr. Soprano 1
Myia Noble, So. Soprano 1
Elyssa Morgan, Sr. Soprano 1
Daphne Smith, So. Soprano 2
Amanda McDuffie – Jr Soprano 2
Angelica O’Pry – Senior – Alto 1
Trinity Willis – Sophomore – Alto 1
Rachel English – Sophomore – Alto 1
Alicia Licona – Senior – Alto 1
Logan Pearce – Junior – Alto 2
Rachael Nicholas – Junior – Alto 2
Adison Wallace – Freshman – Tenor 1
Jose Rueda – Junior – Tenor 2
Nate English – Senior – Tenor 2
Matthew Wehring – Junior – Bass 1
Tae Sanders – Freshman – Bass 2
Branden Mercer – Junior – Bass 2