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‘AN ART, NOT A SCIENCE’
PHS students participate in All- State Band, Choir, and Orchestra
More stories from Addy Moretti
Courtesy Photo: Greta Arturrson
Members of the Powell High School Band and Choir include: (front, from left) junior Joe Kousoulos, junior Jaxton Braten, senior Colin Queen; (middle) junior Sabrina Alvarez, senior Greta Artursson, sophomore Emma Butcher, senior Ashlyn Aguirre; (back) senior Jay Cox, junior Elisa Polson.
Talents come in many different varieties. Some are skilled mathematicians while others prefer to sew.
Nine students were recognized for their exemplary performances in the world of music and were invited to attend All-State in Gillette Jan. 20-21.
Senior Jay Cox played in the All-State Band and junior Elisa Polson was omitted into the All-State Orchestra. The other seven were choir students Greta Artursson, Joe Kousoulos, Jaxton Braten, Sabrina Alvarez, Ashlyn Aguirre, Emma Bucher and Colin Queen.
Ryan Beeker was the director of the All-State Choir.
“He was so funny and talented in his job,” senior and foreign exchange student Artursson said.
Mr. Beeker helped some of the students learn techniques that assisted in improving their vocal abilities.
“I learned how to lengthen your vowels to get a more mature sound,” Braten said. “I can use the things that I learned every day in choir and when I perform, so that I can have a more mature sounding voice.”
The choir performed a number of songs, ranging from faster songs to more melancholy tunes.
“My favorite was Each Slow Dusk because it was very different from anything I’ve heard and sung before.” Artursson said. “All parts basically sang the same text but in different notes and rhythms so it sometimes sounded off beat but that’s how it was supposed to be which gave a really cool effect.”
The students rest and eat dinner at their hotel: (from left) Jay Cox, Sabrina Alvarez, Emma Bucher, and Joe Kousoulos.
The director of the All-State Band was Travis Cross, a music professor at UCLA.
“My favorite part of the trip was getting to perform the music we had all been preparing for several weeks.” senior Jay Cox said. “It’s a lot more fun to play the music with all parties present. Everything really comes together.”
Cross assisted the members of the band in learning good sound quality and technique.
“I learned some good warm up habits that will help me better to prepare to play music in and out of band class,” Cox said.
All-State allows kids from all over the state to come together to share their talents with each other.
“It’s important to remember that music is an art not a science,” Cox said. “Sometimes you just have to do one tiny thing differently to make a piece sound significantly more musical.”