What Could Have Happened?

By Gabrielle Wineberger, News Editor, The Em Vee Hi

For the last three years senior Hannah Yun has auditioned for the part of Soprano 1 for districts. Each year, Yun has been accepted and participated in the choir and even continued on to All-State last year.

This year she did not even make the first cut.

“I was a little shocked when I found out that I did not make it,” Yun said,  “This year I really wanted to make it because it is my senior year and I really wanted to do All-State again this year.”

There were many students selected from Mount Vernon for districts, but scores were lower. Many students who have made districts in previous years did not make it this year.       

Almost half of the singers who auditioned previous years from the school and made it to Districts did not make it this year.                                                                                                                  “There was a lot more talent this year, especially in the Soprano section,” music teacher and District chairperson Judy Belzer said.   

This year, there were four times as many soprano 1 singers auditioning  than in previous years, making the soprano 1 section to be one of the hardest sections to make .

Each year Mount Vernon choir members audition for District 10 chorus; an average of twenty-nine students are selected. Many of the students selected each year are returning participants, but this year that is not the case.

For the past seven years Mount Vernon has hosted the auditions, but this year things changed. West Potomac High School began hosting the auditions, making some students feel uncomfortable.            

“My vocal teacher ended up being one of the judges and because she saw the name card, she was not allowed to judge me because she found out she was judging someone she knew, so they just doubled up the other judge’s score for me.” junior Sarah Busch said.

During the audition students are not allowed to have any contact with the judges. The student helper in the room is the only person allowed to have any contact with the judges. The auditions are blind meaning there is a curtain blocking the view of the Judges from the singers.

“If the judges had not seen my card she could still have judged me fairly on my voice, and I think I would have had a better shot at making Districts again this year,” Busch said                                                                 

Nerves got to some students, but other students say that nerves had nothing to do with why they did not make it.

“I am so used to auditioning here at Mount Vernon, but since the auditions were at West Potomac this year, I did not feel as confident as I have the past few years,” Yun said.

Some students said they believe that the audition piece “The Ash Grove” was harder this year because it was a full song.

“This year the song that they had to audition with was easier than previous years, but because it was an easy song, the judges were looking for different and little things like breathing,” Belzer said.            

The results of this year’s auditions are leaving the choir members shocked and in disbelief, but the school continues to be well represented in the District 10 chorus with another 29 students that will be representing Mount Vernon in February 2013.

Editor's Note: These articles are written by Mount Vernon High School student reporters for The Em Vee Hi, the school newspaper. These articles are running on Mount Vernon Patch as part of a partnership between Mount Vernon Patch and the journalism class at MVHS.