Two members of the Creighton Prep Choir have been selected to the exclusive All-State Choir. Junior Leo Dunlap and sophomore P.J. Mooney successfully auditioned for the prestigious Choir.

To audition, Dunlap and Mooney were required to record themselves singing pieces and submit them to be evaluated by the All-State Choir judges.

“It took around seven minutes to record the whole thing and the entire time I was feeling pretty scared that I would mess something up,” said Dunlap.

The fact that auditions were not performed in front of a panel of judges is a factor that Mooney found advantageous.

“The auditions are online now, so all you do is record your voice, so there’s no pressure from judges, the only pressure is from your own conscious,” said Mooney.

In addition, the candidates for the All-State Choir do not know which songs they will have to perform until the day before the audition.

The actual All-State Conference was a three day convention that included multiple rehearsals that climaxed in a concert on the last day.

“Students in the All-State Choir spend three days in Lincoln practicing the All-State music. Their efforts culminated in a concert in the Lied Center for Performing Arts for a crowd of 1,500 or more people,” said the choir director Rob Chesire.

Being selected to the All-State Choir is no small feat, as the singers that make the Choir feel a great sense of accomplishment.

“Being in All-State means that you are dedicating your time and effort into learning the music and showing that you are one of the best singers in your state for high school students. Unfortunately, I could not do that [at the All-State Conference], but being accepted into the Choir is definitely a high point in my life because I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. I put the time and effort into something I love doing and it turned out great for me,” said Dunlap.