Diann Magnus has long bragged about her Kingfisher vocal students being some of the best out there.

Once again, they’re proving her right.

Several Kingfisher singers were honored recently by being named to various all-state choirs for the different grade levels.

Seventh graders Hannah Johnson and Brailyn Schroeder and freshmen Gisselle Ponce and Shilo Willingham earned spots in the Oklahoma Choral Directors All-State Festival.

Sixth graders Elizabeth Click and Natalie Grunke and seventh grader Evelyn Martin earned spots in the Oklahoma Music Educators Association Children’s All-State Choir and then Ethan McLean, a junior, made his way through the process to land on the OMEA High School All-State Choir.

Oklahoma Choral Directors All-State Festival Johnson, Schroeder, Ponce and Willingham competed in two rounds to earn seats in this prestigious choir for students in seventh-ninth grades on Jan. 10.

In the first round, they competed against fellow students north of Interstate 40 and west of I-35 for the right to advance to the second round.

The top 30 scores of each voice part advance.

Willingham sang soprano, Ponce and Schroeder sang alto 1 and Johnson sang alto 2.

There were some 1,000 students who auditioned overall.

Once they advanced, the Kingfisher students then competed against the top three from the other three regions.

From the second round, the top 30 scores were selected for the mixed choir.

All four Kingfisher students were among the 216 selected for the mixed choir.

The students worked with guest conductor Raul Dominguez, associate director of choral studies at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash., where he leads its Chorale, University Singers, assists Choral Union and teaches courses in secondary.

They gave a final performance at the Oklahoma City Convention Center on Jan. 11.

OMEA All-State

Martin, Click and Grun- ke were among 400 students competing for a spot on the 125-person OMEA Children’s All-State Choir.

Click and Grunke sang alto 1 and Martin sang soprano 2.

Their process involved recording an a cappella song, a harmony exercise and a warm-up exercise.

Once these are recorded, they are submitted and judged using a score sheet.

Children’s All-State began rehearsals on Wednesday, Jan. 15, with clinician McKenna Stenson, who serves on the faculty of Florida State University where she teaches courses in graduate and undergraduate choral techniques and conducts Levana, an advanced treble ensemble.

The Children’s All-State Choir ended the week Friday, Jan. 17, with a concert at the Cox Convention Center in Tulsa.

McLean was among 1,745 students attempting to earn a seat on the 206-person high school choir.

He competed in two rounds of auditions.

The first round is regional and the top 28 scores in each voice part advanced to the second round at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond.

There, students compete against the top 28 from all four regions in the state.

McLean sang bass. Once selected, McLean began his all-state experience Jan. 16 as the high school choir worked with Dr. Linda R. Hasseler, a professor of music and director of choral activities at Capital University’s Conservatory of Music in Columbus, Ohio.

The choir performed on Jan. 18 in the Tulsa Performing Arts Center.