and 6th grade children's choir, and 7th, 8th, and 9th grade men and women's
choir. Auditions started in September officially for Opus. Mrs. Droe, my music
teacher gave a couple of 6th graders music for the tryouts before school
started. We have to sing part of 2 of the songs Opus was doing this year. And
both songs were in foreign languages. German and French which basically made it harder. We kept practicing and practicing and then it was time to record our tryouts. All the music teachers with kids trying out send recordings of their
students and decide who will make it and those who did not make the cut. So
amazingly the judges narrowed the kids from around 2500 to 200. Our voices had to get recorded in the best place with perfect acoustics. So after the tryouts, we had to wait until October to find out. Nine Lincoln kids made it in, and I was one of them. After we practiced the other songs, in English finally, we were ready for the big day. On Nov.18, me and Mom got up at 5:00 AM for getting ready. We got over to Holmes Jr High where the bus was. The bus left at 6:15 and now we were basically prisoners for an hour and a half until we got to Iowa State University, where the concert and practices were. One other thing I forgot to say, was the judges nominated me and 20 other people for trying out for a solo. I did not make the cut sadly but I did get to sing in the small group which was very cool. My mom was also volunteering so she got to go too. So, at around 7:45 we arrived. We got our official Opus 2012 T shirts which only cost around $10-15. We practiced for a couple hours with a fantastic director, and then it was lunch time. We got to eat where the college students eat and it was totally AWESOME!!! The food was great, and it was worth the hour we were there. It was an all you can eat place too. After lunch we practiced more and then practiced where we were going to perform: C.Y. Stephens. It is kind of like the Gallagher Bluedorn here in town. Dad and Henry got to drive an hour and a half down to Ames. The concert started at 4:00. I think during the concert, I looked pretty sharp! That is just my opinion. Afterwards all of us went to a room until the concert was over at 6:00. Then we drove all the way back to CF. What a long day! Here is a video of the solo below. Remember, I am in the small group, and I did not do the opening solo at Opus. This is also at my school at our 5th and 6th grade school concert a couple of weeks later. There is an album for Opus and I think a DVD too. Enjoy the video!