Choir Hits High Notes with Invitation to State
/Kearney High School's vocal jazz ensemble, Frequency, has garnered a coveted invitation to perform at the 87th Annual Missouri Music Educators Association (MMEA) Conference.
Selection for the MMEA's annual conference is the vocal music equivalent of winning a state title, according to choir Director Dustin McKinney. The conference will be held Jan. 28-Feb. 1 at the Tan-Tar-A Conference Center.
"It's the highest honor a music ensemble can receive in the state of Missouri," Mr. McKinney said. "It's such a huge honor and it's a testament to the hard work of students and quality K-12 music education in Kearney School District."
The audition process includes submitting recordings of the ensemble to be blindly adjudicated by an out-of-state panel of music professionals. This is the first time since 2019 and the fifth time ever that an ensemble from the KHS choir program has been invited to perform at the conference. The KHS band has been invited three times.
The following Frequency choir members will be performing at the conference:
Soprano 1
Libby Carpenter
Irene Dixon
Emi Eberhardt
Soprano 2/Alto 1
Delayne Boyd
Jaelyn Deen
Adi Ford
Alto
Lilly Chandler
Ella Conway
Jules Ford
Kaycie Springer
Tenor
Tyler Edie
Ronin Roddy
Nate West
Baritone/Bass
Aedan Creedan
Connor Green
Logan West
Pit
Colton Walker
Jackson Watts
Evan Sandoval
In addition, several Class of 2024 KHS seniors sang on the recordings used for the school's submissions:
Tyler Armstrong
Ryan Bowles
Preston Murphy
Noah Plummer
Arriana Sypniewski
Ivy Taylor
Camilla Womack
Alix Wooten
Ray Weikal contributed to this story.