A number of students competed for the distinguished honor of All-State Chorus.

“We had 19 students audition for the All-State Chorus this year,” said choir director Matt Drees. “It takes a lot of work and time outside of school to learn and prepare the music for this audition, so to have 19 students who are interested in challenging themselves and are willing to commit the time to prepare is an incredible thing for our music program.”

Drees and fellow choir director Kim Wankum helped the students prepare as well as many hours outside of school and in camps.

“The skills and confidence that those students develop throughout this process allows each of these students to be stronger leaders in our school ensembles, which absolutely raises the quality of our choirs,” Drees said. “The students who completed this audition needed to prepare and be able to sing any portion of seven full songs, in four different languages, each with its own set of intricacies and challenges.

-Submitted photo
Fort Dodge Senior High All-State choir selections, left to right, Melanie Carrion, Owen Hamlow, Aidan Recker, Mina DeJong and Manuela Rodriguez stand inside Hilton Coliseum with their All-State medals.

“We are extremely proud of each of the 19 students who represented FDSH and completed this audition for the All-State Chorus.”

Six students received the honor and were selected for the elite group.

For the fourth time, senior Owen Hamlow (bass 1) was picked, a rare accomplishment to earn the honor four times.

“Owen was selected for the fourth year in a row, which puts him in an incredibly rare category of music students in Iowa,” Drees said. “Being a four-year all-stater is an almost unbelievable accomplishment, and we are so incredibly proud of Owen for receiving this distinction.”

Senior Manuela Rodriguez (alto 1) was picked for the third time. Classmate Mina DeJong (soprano 2) earned the honor for the second time.

“My All-State experience for the last three years has been incredible to say the least,” Rodriguez said. “At my first All-State camp my sophomore year I got closer with a lot of the people I am still friends with today.

“Learning the music and understanding how such different pieces work as a concert set has helped me become a better musician.”

Junior Melanie Carrion (soprano 2), senior Aidan Recker (tenor 1) were also selected. Junior Jenson Litwiller (bass 2) was chosen as an alternate.

The five selection represented FDSH at the All-State Musical Festival in Ames in mid-November.

“The stress of audition day has taught me how to deal with stress, especially stress that comes when something is out of your hands,” Rodriguez said. “The festival this year was so much fun. I am so happy for and proud of Owen for being a four-year All-Stater, for Mina for having her comeback, and for Aidan and Melanie for making it the first time.

“They are all a big part of why All-State has been such a great experience this year.”

Choir fans will get one final chance to watch the showcase as the All-State Musical Festival will be aired on Iowa PBS at 8 p.m. on Monday.