Red Oak quartet sing at All-State Festival

Approximately 17 percent of the Iowa students who auditioned were selected for membership in the 2016 Iowa All-State Chorus.
Sean Griffen, Harris Rogerson, Abigail Sherman, and Elsa Wemhoff, students at Red Oak High School, attained the highest individual honor available to Iowa high school musicians by being selected as members of the All-State Chorus. They were four of 16 Red Oak students who auditioned.
Sean is the son of Paul and Ellen Griffen, Harris is the son of Don Rogerson and Jennifer Horner, Abigail is the daughter of Jedd and Kara Sherman, and Elsa is the daughter of Pete and Linnea Wemhoff.  Tim Marsden is the vocal music director at Red Oak High School.
Students rehearsed in Ames Friday and Saturday, Nov. 18-19, and the Festival Concert was presented at 7:30 p.m. in Hilton Coliseum at Iowa State University in Ames last Saturday evening.  Iowa Public Television recorded the concert for re-broadcast.
The program is under the auspices of the Iowa High School Music Association and the Iowa Music Educators Association.
The students qualified for all-state honors during auditions in Atlantic in October. The auditions began around 8 a.m. They ran through the music several times, listening to other groups and perfecting theirs as much as they could until their audition time at noon. The first round of results was posted at 4 o’clock, and my whole quartet made it.
“The way that they post it is through a big drop down list, which is released one at a time by voice part. First soprano, then alto, then tenor, then bass, and as soon as your voice part list goes down you hear screaming and crying and overall excitement from the entire gym. Seeing your name on that list is surreal, and is the best feeling in the world,” Sherman said.
Sherman started singing when she was in third grade when her family participated in the musical The Sounds of Music at the Wilson Performing Arts Center.
“I have always been interested in singing because of my parents. They’ve always encouraged me to be a musical student,” Sherman said.
Jedd and Kara Sherman encouraged Abigail to work hard for what she loves. Sherman’s second year of reaching all-state brought excitement to her and her family.
“We all know what an honor it is to make it in to all-state, including my mom, who made it into all-state as well. She always pressures me to practice my music because she had experienced it before and knows it is a worthwhile experience,” Sherman said.
She added it would almost be soul crushing to not be able to experience being in a choir of 600 amazing voices.
An alto, Sherman’s preparation was practicing the music as much as possible and whenever she had time. She went to Marsden for lessons, and picked at every last detail until the music was as perfect as she could make it.
“I am so excited for the overall experience, because I get to go sing with my friends and join a group of amazingly talented singers, who I know have worked as hard as I have on this music. Standing among people from all over the state and hearing our bold, confident, beautiful sound is an amazing feeling. They understand what an incredible opportunity it is, and what it’s like to make beautiful music that you can’t experience in any regular high school choir. I feel very honored that I get the privilege of joining this choir again.”

Wemhoff
Wemhoff began singing when she was in elementary school and participated at musical theater camps.
“I’m motivated to continue singing because I love it and it brings such wonderful experiences. It’s never been something that I haven’t wanted to do,” Wemhoff said.
A soprano, she tried out for all-state her freshman and sophomore years but didn’t make it. This time was different.
“I was really surprised and excited to find out that I had made it in, and I felt very relieved because all of the hard work had paid off. My family was so happy and proud and they all congratulated me,” Wemhoff said.
“We all started preparing at the beginning of the school year until the auditions in late October. I practiced after school every day with everyone else, on my own, and with our quartet. It takes a lot of preparation to be ready for the auditions. The hard thing about it is that there’s so many girls that can sing in that range, so it can be difficult to stand out to the judges if you don’t have the type of soprano voice they’re looking for,” she said.

Griffen
Sean Griffen said, “Singing has been one of my interests because of the opportunities it gave me. I made so many friends and visited colleges and other places because of it. I started singing at Inman Primary like the rest of the class, but I didn’t start competitively and actively singing until I was 12, when I was in the Sound of Music at the Wilson Performing Arts center. I also participated in a youth choir at the Wilson. I started singing because my family has always been actively involved in choirs in college and in Red Oak. I just felt like I should get involved.”
Griffen’s motivation for singing is to improve his skills as a musician and as a person.
Griffen, who tried out as a bass one, said of being selected, “My reaction, honestly, was a little underwhelming. I just thought that I made it into another choir group and there was nothing that special about it. My families’ reaction was a lot different. They were really happy and glad that I made it in. My sisters also tried out for the choir, but never made it in.
“I started preparing for all-state since August. My preparation took place mostly after school with my quartet and the others that auditioned. It’s good to start learning other people’s voices early to build the ensemble.”
Rogerson
Harris Rogerson said, “I’ve been exposed to a lot of music my whole life so I guess it was just a natural progression. I was never too interested into singing until high school, when it was taken more serious than middle or elementary school. I just enjoyed it and it was given more opportunities to sing (minnesingers, solo andensemble, contest honor choirs.) I just love music and I take any opportunity I can to make music.”
Rogerson, a tenor two, said it was a joyous scene when he found out he qualified.
“It was a crazy experience. I was super happy – gave everyone hugs, texted my parents. I was on cloud nine.
“Everyone started practicing shortly after the beginning of the school year and prepared through late October. Mr. Marsden would stay after school every day and work with anyone who wanted to stay. I also practiced with the rest of my quartet several times.”
Prior to heading for the rehearsals and concert in Ames, Rogerson said, “It’s going to be incredible singing the songs I’ve practiced for months with 600 of Iowa’s most talented musicians.”