Senior Ayden Brook was admitted to the Virginia Music Educators Association (VMEA) Senior Honors Choir on Oct. 21 as the only tenor to represent high schoolers in Loudoun County.
VMEA is an honorary association that recognizes talented musical students from across the state of Virginia and allows them to showcase their skills through multiple different concerts in Norfolk, Virginia from Nov. 21 to Nov. 23.
“It’s super competitive,” choir teacher Christine Tarrant said. “It’s probably the hardest audition someone would do in high school.”
Only 132 people out of the 730 seniors that auditioned were selected to the Honors Choir, and 11 of those students were from Loudoun County. Brook was the only one of the 11 auditioners that was selected for the tenor part.
“At first I didn’t know I was going to be the only tenor,” Brook said. “When I got the email saying I am, it was a shock because I was like, ‘Wait, really?’…There’s a lot of great people [auditioning], so it was a surprise.”
While there was a lot of competition, the twenty-minute audition allowed for Brook to rise above the rest.
“Because there’s only one [choir], that makes [auditioning] a little bit harder,’ Ms. Tarrant said. “The sight reading is more difficult, and the piece is more challenging.”
Brook, who is familiar with the aspects of auditioning because of his background in theater, managed to rise above the challenge.
“I was nervous, obviously, because it was an audition,” Brook said. “But I was pretty confident, because I knew that, in a way, I was needed. So, in a sense, I was probably going to get in.”
Confidence itself isn’t what gets somebody into the Honors Choir, but the dedication to improve as Tarrant has noticed.
“I think he’s gotten a lot more committed and focused from sophomore year to senior year,” Ms. Tarrant said. “He’s very versatile, too, in the way he thinks about the music that he can perform and levels he can get to.”
The next step for Brook is to keep practicing in preparation for his concert on Nov. 23, where he will proudly perform and represent the school and county.
“It’s a big thing that I’m sure could help me go a lot of places…it can be a great experience,” Brook said. “I’m very excited.”
