Choir Hits High Notes with Invitation to State

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Kearney High School's vocal jazz ensemble, Frequency, has garnered a coveted invitation to perform at the 87th Annual Missouri Music Educators Association (MMEA) Conference.

Selection for the MMEA's annual conference is the vocal music equivalent of winning a state title, according to choir Director Dustin McKinney. The conference will be held Jan. 28-Feb. 1 at the Tan-Tar-A Conference Center.

"It's the highest honor a music ensemble can receive in the state of Missouri," Mr. McKinney said. "It's such a huge honor and it's a testament to the hard work of students and quality K-12 music education in Kearney School District."

The audition process includes submitting recordings of the ensemble to be blindly adjudicated by an out-of-state panel of music professionals. This is the first time since 2019 and the fifth time ever that an ensemble from the KHS choir program has been invited to perform at the conference. The KHS band has been invited three times.

The following Frequency choir members will be performing at the conference:

Soprano 1

  • Libby Carpenter

  • Irene Dixon

  • Emi Eberhardt

Soprano 2/Alto 1

  • Delayne Boyd

  • Jaelyn Deen

  • Adi Ford

Alto

  • Lilly Chandler

  • Ella Conway

  • Jules Ford

  • Kaycie Springer

Tenor

  • Tyler Edie

  • Ronin Roddy

  • Nate West

Baritone/Bass

  • Aedan Creedan

  • Connor Green

  • Logan West

Pit

  • Colton Walker

  • Jackson Watts

  • Evan Sandoval

In addition, several Class of 2024 KHS seniors sang on the recordings used for the school's submissions:

  • Tyler Armstrong

  • Ryan Bowles

  • Preston Murphy

  • Noah Plummer

  • Arriana Sypniewski

  • Ivy Taylor

  • Camilla Womack

  • Alix Wooten

Ray Weikal contributed to this story.

Kearney Musicians Hit Right Notes at State

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The Kearney High School band and choir sent several musicians to state contests this spring. Many students came back with Gold ratings.

Choir

The Kearney High School Choir excelled during the MSHSAA State Solo and Small Ensemble Contest held on April 25. The vocal music students performed admirably on the day with seven competing events. Of those events, five of them received Gold Ratings while the other two received Silver Ratings.

Gold

Kate Martens, Lia Wilson, Archer Schmidt, Arianna Sypniewski, Ryan Bowles, Connor Green, Logan West, Delayne Boyd – Mixed Double Quartet

Ryan Bowles – Vocal Solo

Emi Eberhardt – Vocal Solo

Logan West – Vocal Solo

Connor Green – Vocal Solo

Silver

Aiden Vasquez (JH) – Vocal Solo

Arianna Sypniewski – Vocal Solo

Band

Kearney High School Band students gave some equally great performances at the MSHSAA State Solo/Ensemble Festival. The band took 13 qualifying students to this event. Seven earned Gold, five Silver, and one Bronze.

Gold Performances included:

Avery Morgan

Kieran Cooper

Hailey Robertson

Phoebe Taylor

Emma Daniel

Alex Kinstler

Andie George

Brian Watts contributed to this story.