Rochester voice studio sends 15 to New Hampshire all-state chorus festival

See photo caption below

ROCHESTER - Fifteen members of the Andrea Veal Voice Studio in Rochester were selected for the New Hampshire All-State Chorus this year.

Accepted students hailed from Spaulding High School, Portsmouth Christian Academy, Exeter High School and Oyster River High School. Students are selected using a rigorous audition process in November. Studio members begin their preparations for the audition in June with group classes on rhythm and pitch reading, individual lessons to learn the audition songs, and group mock auditions. Studio director Andrea Veal has been coaching students for All-State for more than 20 years and is herself a judge for the audition.

Students met at the Studio on March 10 to rehearse the choral music for the All-State Festival, which is coming up on April 6. Singers who are selected for the Festival Chorus receive 5-6 choral pieces in January to learn before their arrival at the Festival in April. At the festival, singers from around the state rehearse for two days together and end with a concert.

"It's a lot to prepare for the All-State audition, but once you're accepted, the work doesn't stop there," Veal said. "You have a lot of music to learn for the Festival so that you can present the very best concert. We work together to learn the festival music in advance so that the students go into the rehearsals feeling relaxed and confident in their preparation."

Photo caption: Back row, from left, Studio director Andrea Veal, Emily Buinicky, Nick Kanelos, Arthur Lovins, Parker Vance, Isabella Veno. Front row, from left, Anastasia Knutsen, Lillyana Henderson, Isabella Dumont, Anna Tolley, Heidi Jenkins, Asa Buchakjian-Tweedy. Not pictured: Christopher Letellier, Violet Nelson, Maren O'Keefe, Mollie Pedersen. (Courtesy photo)