Cloquet senior sings her way to all-state

Kirsten Papas was in

vocal heaven earlier this month, surrounded by more than 100 "musical nerds" at all-state choir. Her words.

"You find out everyone is as much a nerd as you are," Papas said. "It's very welcoming. I think a lot of us had written ourselves off, but we found a rebirth there ... it's fun and not as difficult to be a good musician as people think."

Considered the top program of its kind across the nation, the Minnesota Music Educators Association's all-state music program is highly competitive. Nearly 1,500 students in high school bands, choirs, and orchestras audition in March for an all-state spot in seven different groups. Judges listen to the students, evaluating them on their overall musicianship and technique. In mid-April, the MMEA All-State committee chooses the final rosters, considering scores and placement policies. A total of 561 students were selected for the seven different groups. Papas sang in the mixed choir and was one of only two people from the Northland who attended the camp earlier this month.

The Cloquet senior said it was "a little terrifying" at first, when camp organizers sent out the musical selections and informed the kids there would be "spot checks" when they got there to make sure they had pre-learned the music.

After the choir students arrived at St. Olaf, they split into sections to run through some of the more problematic parts. Then they came back together to sing for guest director Dr. Jo Ann Miller of North Dakota State University.

"Everyone knew, everything clicked immediately," said Papas. "It was pretty magical. It was music from beginning to end, and the challenge was really just how to improve on that over the coming days."

It wasn't that difficult for Papas, as she has been singing since Ann Lau got her interested at Queen of Peace. In the years since elementary school, she's been in choir at school, taken voice lessons from Gayle Hamre, sung in concert choir and madrigals, and acted in musical theater at both CHS and the Duluth Playhouse, where she was Dr. Doolittle in "Dr. Doolittle Junior" last year.

Any worries she had about being surrounded by a bunch of "cold professionals" at all-state camp were quickly assuaged.

Papas said the real choir experience is about everyone being a team.

"It doesn't matter who you are if you know what you're doing and can appreciate that it's a bunch of people in a room doing the same thing, at the same time, with the same purpose," she said. "Once you realize that, then it's not just a group of people getting up to sing at the same time - it's a community."

The all-state students will perform again as part of the MMEA Midwinter Clinic later this year.