Bishop Garrigan has continued its strong musical reputation by having 3 choir members selected to All State. Senior Nate Bronk, Junior Benjamin Trainer and Sophomore Isabella Waechter auditioned on October 22nd in LeMars, IA. Nate, Benjamin and Isabella were selected from among 4,251 musicians that represented 269 different schools in the State of Iowa. 601 chorus members were selected for the prestigious event, equivalent to 17% of the musicians.
The selection to All-State is the highest honor a student can receive in high school music. The process of auditioning is a difficult process with only the top 2% of all musicians in the state being selected. Going to 'state' in anything is cause for celebration, however sports typically have the advantage of competing only against schools of similar sizes. The All-State audition process, students are competing against students from all different sizes of schools. The students selected are not only the highest in their own school but the entire state. "We are proud to have had three Bishop Garrigan students at this competition and to have all three accepted into the chorus. The students work incredibly hard on difficult pieces of music. Congratulations to Nate, Benjamin and Isabella," said BGHS Choir Director Antonia Rupert.
The All-State Chorus rehearsed November 18-19 in Ames and the 76th annual Iowa All-State Festival Concert was performed November 19th in Hilton Coliseum on the campus of Iowa State University. The concert, presented by the Iowa High School Music Association and Iowa Music Educators Association, featured all-state chorus, band and orchestra. Chorus director was Bruce Chamberlain, professor emeritus of music at the University of Arizona.