CHICKASHA – Nearly 700 high school students are scheduled to descend upon the University of Science and Arts campus Oct. 28. The university will play host to the Oklahoma Music Educator’s Association All-State Choir regional auditions, an event drawing high schools in the Chickasha, Norman, Moore, Lawton and Duncan areas.

High school students from across the southwest region of Oklahoma will compete for the chance to join the OMEA All-State Choir, which will rehearse and perform at the OMEA annual convention in Tulsa next January.

Dr. Jan Hanson, professor of music and site coordinator for the event, said the USAO music department welcomes the choral all-state audition participants to Chickasha and the university campus.

“We are pleased to host the Oklahoma Music Educator's Association All-State Choral Auditions for the Southwest District,” Hanson said. “We are proud to be selected as the regional site and welcome our guests to the USAO campus.”

The OMEA All-State Choir is open to students in grades 10-12. Students who participate in the auditions will be adjudicated by three judges in what is known as a “blind” audition, with a screened partition between the singer and the judges. The judges will rank each performer in specific areas of singing ability.

Serving as conductor for the 2007 OMEA All-State Choir is Rene Clausen, conductor of the Concordia Choir of Concordia College in Moorhead, Minn.

USAO music majors will serve as student hosts, guides, tabulators and room monitors for the day.