All-State Choir is a statewide choral event [1] in each individual American state, usually for one weekend during the school year. [2] The choirs are honor groups [3] composed of a highly select group of high school students [4] who are the top music students from their respective schools, [3] with the Kansas Music Educators Association calling the all-state musicians "truly the best of the best," [5] and American Choral Directors Association saying it's a "prestigious ensemble." [6]
Participation is competitive. For instance, in Texas, 1,810 students are chosen from 70,000 who begin the audition process. [7] Some states have audition processes that can include making it through various levels of auditions in front of judging panels, [8] with some having several rounds of auditions including region choir, pre-area candidacy, then area, all before makng it to the all-state level. [9] [10] Auditions can include both prepared pieces and sight reading. [11]
All-state choir is held by the Educational Music Association body of each respective state. [12] On all-state weekends, students converge in one city, staying in a hotel together [13] with several rehearsals and social events. [14] They often get to work with renowned guest conductors, [12] preparing collegiate-level music [15] to be performed for large audiences [16] like at the Buell Theater in the Denver Performing Arts Complex [15] with a capacity of almost 3,000 seats. [17]