Fifteen choir students sang their hearts out at the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association District 10 Choir Concert and Region V Vocal Auditions at Exeter Township High School from Feb. 7-9. 

Qualifying for districts is a huge accomplishment, to say the least. Over 900 students from different counties around the area auditioned for districts. By the time the competitive audition process was over, only 200 students were selected to make up the District 10 Chorus. 

Vocal auditions for the District 10 Chorus Concert took place a few months ago on Oct. 22 at Parkland High School. Fifteen students from our very own Bangor High School were chosen to participate. These selected students included seniors Aimee Bealer, Hannah Bledsoe, and Abigail Lucas; juniors Mason Cruz, Heather Heath, Lindsay Hoffer, Cathianne McKenna, Brookel Sabella, and Kristen Stopfer; sophomores Deja Breitfeller, Abigail Heald, Joshua Martinez, Andrea Morokutti, and Michael Spagnola; and freshman Charles Fassl. 

“It felt amazing to make districts again this year because I was so excited to see all of my friends from other schools that had also made districts,” Bledsoe said. “I was happy that all of my hard work paid off.” 

In addition to performing a concert, these students also auditioned for the Region V Chorus. This year, Bangor students performed exceedingly well at the audition, with ten students singing their way to regions. 

“I’m very excited for regions because of the friendships I have made with people in our school and all of the people I have met from other schools,” Breitfeller said. “I’m extremely happy to be a part of this group, especially because I get to experience it all with the people I love.” 

Of the ten students, several ranked very high in their voice part. Ranking second in their voice part was Tenor 1 singer Fassl and Alto 1 singer Morokutti. Furthermore, Soprano 1 singers McKenna and Breitfeller ranked second and third, respectfully. 

Blowing the judges away was Alto 2 singer Sabella, ranking first in her voice part. 

“Ranking 1st is something I am proud of, but in the end, everyone is an amazing singer, it just depends on how you do in the audition room,” Sabella said. “I’m really thankful to be able to experience the PMEA festivals because it’s a great place to grow as a singer and meet new people.” 

After such an amazing performance at the region auditions, students have high hopes for the State Chorus auditions which will take place at the end of March at Muhlenberg High School. 

“With all the recent snow days, we’ve been working on our new music for regions separately, but we are planning to rehearse after school as well as a few Saturday rehearsals,” Bealer said. “I’m really excited to see how I perform at the state auditions because I love seeing how I improve each year.” 

For now, the ten students moving on to regions will spend the next few weeks preparing for their concert and audition for states.