Saturday, Nov. 5 was a monumental day for OHS choir.

Thirty-one OHS choir students participated in three All-Suburban choirs at Pattonville High School and 12 were able to audition for the Missouri All-State Choir. The results were historic as seven OHS students made the All-State choir. This is the largest number of students OHS has ever had represented in the All-Suburban choirs.

The All-State choir consists of groups of 16 students from around the state of Missouri; they come together during the Missouri Music Educators Association (MMEA) conference in January for three days of rehearsal and a concert. OHS representatives include: Alec Lininger (12), Ronni Jones (12), Noah Thompson (12), RJ Martin (12), YuJin Hurr (12), Emma Reinagel (11), and Kristin Steinbrueck (11).

“I feel extremely honored to be representing our program with six of my friends,” Martin said. “This is such a great reflection of all of the hard work and dedication we have put in.”

The audition process started on Oct. 1 when students initially auditioned for All-Suburban. Students were required to perform a solo for a panel of three judges and to sight-read two lines of music for another judge. From these auditions, the top 20 from each voice part–soprano, alto, tenor, bass–qualify to audition for the Missouri All-State Choir, according to choir director Mr. Michael Wegener.

Students then have a second solo audition for another panel of three judges, and the scores from the two auditions are combined. The students with the four highest scores are selected for the Missouri All-State Choir.

Sixteen students from the St. Louis County All-Suburban choir are selected, and with seven students, OHS makes up one less than half.

“I’ve never been happier in my life,” Steinbrueck said. “It’s just so satisfying. All my hard work paid off.”