Credit: Standard Democrat
Sikeston High School senior Malik Barnett is used to long rehearsals and demanding vocal works, but his experience as a member of the Missouri All-State Choir took that to an entirely new level, he said. And, he added, it produced music that both humbled him and elevated him.
Barnett spent four days at the Missouri Music Educators Conference in January as one of the select members of the All-State Choir, which is comprised of high school juniors and seniors from across the state. According to Sikeston High School vocal instructor Abe Leach, those selected to the state choir along with those named as alternates are in the top 5 percent of singers in Missouri and among the nation’s best.
This year in addition to Barnett, who is a senior, Sikeston High School had two juniors, Timothy McHaffie and Zach Watkins, selected as alternates.
Barnett described the experience of performing with Missouri’s best high school singers as one of the accomplishments he is most proud of in his high school career. For a top academic student, who is preparing to study pre-medicine at Yale University next fall, that says a lot.
“It is really an experience I can’t compare to anything else,” Barnett said. “It reaffirmed to me … that music is absolutely one of the most important things in my life. I have done a lot of things but out of everything I feel that is one of the things that is very personal for me. It is a way for me to express myself and have fun while still working hard and being challenged.”
The three Sikeston students’ path to the state choir began in September when they auditioned for the Southeast Missouri Music Educators Association All-District Choir. Each student prepared a solo and also performed music they had never seen before.
Among those auditioning for All-District Choir, 16 Sikeston students were selected, making them among the top singers in SMMEA’s region which extends from Kennett to Fredericktown and west to Doniphan, Leach said.
From that group, juniors and seniors are eligible to audition for the Missouri Choir Directors Association All-State Choir. These students perform for three judges, who select the All-State Choir members and alternates.
Leach said the standards are high for Missouri’s All-State Choir, which is known as one of the best in the nation. Its members are highly sought after by upper level choral directors and many receive college scholarships to continue their musical studies.
Leach pointed out McHaffie and Watkins’ selection as alternates is impressive. They must attend all the rehearsals at the District level and be prepared to perform with the choir, should someone be unable to participate.
McHaffie described the audition and rehearsals as a good experience even though he didn’t get to perform with the All-State Choir. He admitted to being nervous for the audition.
“When I was walking in I was thinking about everything that could go bad,” McHaffie said. “But once I got in the room and the music started playing, it was almost natural to sing it because I had practiced it so many times that I knew exactly what to do.”
Rehearsing with the singers from the other schools was enjoyable, he said, adding he was impressed by how much talent there is in the region.
Barnett described the MMEC as hectic with not only the music educators and state choir members but also those students who qualified for the all-state band, all-state orchestra and all-state jazz band as well as college-age performers. The All-State Choir went to work the evening they arrived at Tan-Tar-A Resort at the Lake of the Ozarks.
“It kind of made us realize how intense the week was going to be, what we could expect from All-State Choir and the high expectations that were set for us,” Barnett said about the rehearsal.
They began working on their selections which ranged from the classical “Kyrie” by Franz Joseph Hayden to the spiritual, “I’m Building Me a Home.” The student said the song “Bin Na Ma” was particularly challenging because of the movements the choir performed as they sang.
The group rehearsed two to three times each day with rehearsals lasting three to four hours.
“Most of the time rehearsal for me, sometimes I enjoy it, sometimes I don’t. But honestly, at all-state when it was time for the breaks to come, I really didn’t want to leave the rehearsal,” Barnett said. “It was so emotionally intense. The sound was so beautiful. It was unlike anything I have ever been a part of before.”
The SHS senior said he was impressed by his fellow choir members and their talent. He added, they also inspired him to work even harder to become a better performer.
Their hard work paid off with the final concert, he said.
“You could hear the emotion just bleeding out of the music. It was honestly one of the most touching experiences I have ever had. I have never been moved to tears by performance until I performed at all-state,” he said.
Barnett will graduate in May but is encouraging his fellow Sikeston High School choir members who are interested in performing with the All-State Choir to begin working now on their musical skills. His advice is to perfect their sight reading skills, pay attention to details and practice, practice, practice.
That is advice McHaffie said he plans to take.
While neither is considering a career in music (both are planning to major in medicine) neither McHaffie or Barnett intend to leave it behind either. McHaffie said he hopes to help pay for college with a music scholarship while Barnett wants to audition for Yale’s Glee Club and perhaps play with the college’s symphony orchestra. Each said they would find a church choir to sing with while at college, too.
Leach described the three young men who earned state recognition as hard workers, who are dedicated and organized when they come to class.
In turn, Barnett and McHaffie credit their teacher with pushing them to make the most of their talents.
Barnett added, before he may not have appreciated when his teacher urged to do a solo or work a little harder.
“Now that I have had the all-state experience and come back and reflected on my time and the music program here, I understand more of what he was doing, why it was necessary and why it was in my best interests,” he explained. “Being around some of the most talented musicians in the entire state and just soaking in all that talent and realizing what is out there… I still have a long way to go as far as my growth as a musician. I realize it doesn’t stop here, it only goes up.”
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