Three Greene County Middle School students were selected to perform in a prestigious, statewide ensemble.

Seventh grader Delaney Pedersen and eighth graders Eli Hardaway and Gabe Gerzema auditioned and qualified for the OPUS Honor Choir. Vocal Director Snowy Anderson says only three made it from her 60 students that tried out, with grades ranging from fifth to ninth, across the entire state. She points out that each entry is done as a recording where the students have to sing two experts from the music that will be performed at the honor choir concert, followed by the seventh graders singing a major scale and the eighth graders performing “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.”  Anderson shares her thoughts on the audition process.

“There are so many that audition that it has to be perfect. They record acapella, so I give them a starting pitch, I push record, and they’re on their own. So it is really tough, but it’s process over product.” 

All three students said they each found out that they made OPUS Honor Choir in the same way, with a call to the principal’s office which started out like they thought they did something bad. Gerzema recalls his reaction to being in that situation.

“They said, ‘Gabe, go to the principal’s office.’ So I was like, ‘Oh, shoot” and all my friends were like, “OOOOO!” So Ms. (Cara) Osborne, our principal, said, ‘What did you do last Friday, huh?’ I went quiet. And then she said, ‘Well, it relates to the choir room,’ and then she said I made OPUS. And I was like, ‘Oh my goodness, I made OPUS.’ I was relieved because I thought I was in trouble.”

The students will perform separately, as a seventh and eighth grade ensemble, on November 21st at 4pm at Stephens Auditorium in Ames on the Iowa State University campus. Tickets go on sale November 8th.