Katie Garcia earned a spot in the Texas Small School All State Choir and will perform with that group in February in San Antonio.
The Wylie senior will be making her second appearance at state. She also qualified last year, and she said that experience helped her as she went through the process to qualify again this year.
“They give you a lot of pointers on how to overall sing better,” she said. “I think that’s what helped me to make it to 1st chair this year at area.”
To qualify for state, choir students must first make the All-Region choir. Five Wylie students qualified for the All Region Mixed Choir and performed in concert with that group in November in Midland. Those students are Katie, Dyllon Daulton, Tara Bachran, Shaun Harlow and Rebecca Smith.
All five also advanced to the pre-area auditions in November. Katie, Dyllon and Rebecca advanced to the area round, where Katie said the competition gets fierce.
“Everyone who is there deserves to be there,” she said. “They have poured their heart and soul and blood and sweat and tears into this process. You have to prove yourself to be one of the best. It takes a lot of practice and a lot of dedication.”
Katie said she loved the All-State Choir last year.
It was really enlightening,” she said. “I learned a lot of things about choirs in general. We have multiple days of practice and finessing the music. We work through those. At the end, we have a concert. It’s quite easily the best choir I’ve been in.”
Katie has been in the choir at Wylie since 6th grade, and the last two years, she has also been in the Wylie Show Choir. One of her favorite things about Show Choir is going on a nursing home tour at Christmas, Katie said.
“That’s one of my favorite things to do because old people are adorable,” she said. “It’s really cool.”
Katie hopes to go to HSU next year and study musical psychology. She said music can be very therapeutic.
“I’ve seen a lot of examples of how music can be used in therapy,” she said. “It’s helped me in so many aspects. Singing music has helped to push me to be the best me I can be.”
Wylie’s younger choir students also saw success in the fall.
Wylie 7th-9th graders earned spots in the Treble and Tenor Bass Region Choirs. They are Tristyn Robinson, Chandler Marsh, Jacqualyn Rose (HS). Dominique Douglas, Kaleigh Hicks (HS), Hillary Haywood, Emy Pablico, Katelyn Walker (HS), Taylor Valek (HS), Trystan Harris, Keira McMillan, Gabby Poradek and Janeya Cardenas.
In addition, several Wylie 6th-graders made the 6th-grade Honor Band. They are Hevyn Laurance, Gracie Hurst, Amira Quick, Lily Scherer, Deja Warren, London Groves, Amiya Martinez, Abrianna Flores and Iyana Lopez.
Congratulations Choir Students!