All-West is an annual honor choir that West Tennessee high school students can audition for. With only approximately 300 musicians making it in, the audition process is rigorous. Six audition excerpts are released in August for students to learn and practice until mid-October.

“Both of the choir teachers, Mr. Powell and Mr. Massey, are extremely talented, and they can both really increase your chances of getting into All-West than if you didn’t come to rehearsals,” Owen Keeton (10) said.

Keeton has performed in All-West in previous years and auditioned again this year. With twice-a-week after-school opportunities to work with the choir teachers, White Station students were able to get a comfortable feel of their pieces before the big audition day. Along with this one-on-one assistance, instrumental tracks were uploaded online that corresponded with the audition excerpts.

“It’s probably one of the best musical experiences I’ve ever had in my life. You get to meet all of these amazing people from different schools and sing with them. There’s nothing better in a musician’s eyes than singing with other people like-minded to you,” Keeton said.

After the audition process is over, 25 musicians from each of the eight voice parts are congratulated on making it into the choir. 

“It’s really fun to be able to sing with people who know a piece of music as well as you know it, and people who have practiced as much as you have. Especially with the clinician, it’s really fun to have somebody who knows the music too, who’s directing you,” Maddie Hitching (11) said.

This year, the choir was directed by Dr. Andrea Ramsey, a talented composer, conductor and music educator.  Hitching has auditioned five times and this year was her third time being able to sing in the choir. Trophies and plaques are given to those who make it for five or six years, giving recognition to the talented students.

“Being in an honor choir is different every time since there are different people and different clinicians and music,” Hitching said.