The North Central American Choral Directors Association Mixed Honor Choir… that is quite the lengthy title, but if one is selected to be a member, it is also quite the honor.

And one area high schooler was selected–that being Guthrie Center senior Isaac Ashby.

Ashby was chosen amongst students from North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa to participate in the choir’s conference that was held recently in Des Moines, and he called the experience “awesome and gratifying.”

To be selected into the honor choir, Ashby had to complete an extensive recorded audition tape, and he explains that process.

“The first thing that you have to do is you have to sing your range, like how high and low you can get and you have to sing it in tune.  The second thing I had to do–I had to sing the first verse of ‘My Country ‘Tis of Thee’.  And then I also had to sing a little section of one of the songs that we actually sang for the honor choir.”

While Ashby says he wasn’t nervous during his audition tape performance, it does take some nerve and a passion for music to even apply for such a high honor.  The senior explains how he developed his love for signing.

“When I started to go out for choir, I got better and better at it, and when I really thought to myself that I was actually okay, I wanted to strengthen that.  So, I kept pursuing it and it just becomes like a part of you, I guess.”

Ashby says he’ll be developing his passion for music even more in the years ahead, as he’s off to Luther College on a music scholarship in the fall.

To hear more from Ashby as he talks about his recent honor choir experience and more, tune-in to today’s Let’s Talk Guthrie County on K107 during the 9am, noon and 5pm hours.