A week long camp for elite
singers wanting to further insure their place in the following year's
Texas All State Choir. The camp occurs in the middle of summer, this year from July 10
th to the 14
th, and is used to prepare 200 priority** students for the upcoming
auditions. Members of the
All State choir are held in high regard, as only 5 per voice part are allowed per area (total of 280 students out of around 25 - 30 thousand). Those accepted are also, usually, offered
scholarships and noticed by many music schools.
For $250, each person attending the camp recieves the All State
music packet (all 8 pieces) two months early, room, board, and the expertise of people who will likely be the judges for the
competition. For some, the camp may not be useful. Men have no real need for it as all that is necesary to make All State is that they know the music. This is due to the very low turn out of male applicants. Females, on the other hand, have a much harder time as 1400 of the 1800 per region* are generally
female.
I will personally be attending this years, and follow posts will be added...
*The All State audition process has four rounds - District, Region, Area, and State. The District and Region rounds are virtually identical: The district round weeds out the top 32 per voice part, then region narrows the same people down to the top 8.
Three regions then combine for the area competition and the top five per voice part are selected. Finally, three areas combine and the top five vocalists per section are chosen to go to the All State choir in
San Antonio,
Texas at the yearly TMEA convention.
**Most are invited as having been prior All State members