Five NE students will participate in a two-year college music conference in San Antonio this month.

The students — Julie Belville, Ashley Ghent, Sam Jones III, Katherine Kitchens and Sterling Kohout — were chosen in an audition Nov. 19 and are now members of the Texas Music Educators Association Two-Year College All-State Choir.

NE music instructor Bobbie Douglass said she is supportive of the students’ success. She said she encourages her students to audition and has them sing their music to her first.

“They will have the chance to work with or rehearse with other very talented singers and a nationally renowned choral conductor,” she said. “This is usually an experience of a lifetime, one that the students will carry with them forever.”

Ghent said she was thrilled to be selected.

“All-State puts your knowledge to the test,” said. “You have rehearsals that last a majority of the day, and you are surrounded by musicians who are completely serious in what they’re doing. You feel put to a challenge and want to make music with these people.”

The convention covers a variety of music including a standard choral piece, a major work and a spiritual or gospel piece. One piece is for tenor and basses only, and one is reserved for the sopranos and altos.

“Sometimes students sing in foreign languages such as Latin or German,” Douglass said. “The major work this year is the Pinkham Christmas Cantata.

The students will travel to San Antonio Feb. 9-12 to rehearse, culminating in a concert for the convention.

“Music isn’t just about singing notes,” Ghent said. “It’s about learning what they mean and how more than one note can make something beautiful.”

— Magan Mitchell