Musicality earns local students All State Choir selection

For as long as they both can recall, they've wanted to be on the stage -- singing on stage and acting on stage. And for almost as long as they can recall, they have been. Now, two Dexter High School eleventh grade students have an opportunity to perform at the highest level of Missouri High Schools as they prepare to perform with the All-State Choir in late January 2016.

Sarah Miller, daughter of Rick and Derenda Miller, is the only Dexter student who was selected to be a member of the All-State Choir. She was among several students who earned District Choir status and was allowed the opportunity to audition for the state level once the district winners had been established across the region. Students were required to both perform and sight read at the district competition.

Each student auditioning for the All-State Choir was evaluated on tone quality, vocal technique and individual musicianship on the basis of part-singing, sight-reading and solo singing. The evaluation forms utilized across the state of Missouri were identical. Each district selected 16 singers and two alternates for each voice part, with the exception of the Kansas City Metro and South Central Districts which selected 24.

Also auditioning was DHS junior Andrew Teel, son of Gary and Keri Teel, who earned First Alternate status for the All-State Choir. That ranking makes him eligible to attend all practices leading up to the January performance at Tan-Tera in order to be prepared to perform, should a student not be able to appear.

"Oftentimes a first alternate will be able to perform. Sometimes there are just circumstances that prohibit another student in the state from being able to go, and that's when the first alternates step in."

"It would be awesome if I got to perform," Teel says, "but I'm not counting on it. I'll still attend the mandatory practices though, just in case."

Those practices will be held in the coming weeks in both Jackson and in Cape Girardeau. In the meantime, the pair will practice with their DHS choral instructor, Jamie Sepulvado.

"If you don't make both practices, then you don't have a chance to be called in as an alternate," Teel explains.

Music has played a major role in the lives of both of the Dexter High School juniors.

Miller grew up performing in Little Theater performances in Sikeston, as well as several other genres growing up. She hopes to someday utilize her love of music in a career down the road.

"I'm really into acting and theater," she explains, "but I'm also into singing professionally and writing my own songs."

Miller has spent considerable time working with the Brothers Walker at their sound studio in Bernie.

"I have two songs that will be coming out in the spring and am working on a third original song that I hope to release by then as well," the aspiring vocalist notes.

The songs, she says, are her own works and are currently still in production at the Bernie studio, where she visits at least twice monthly.

Miller describes her music as both country and "alternative," and anticipates works on them between her time spent performing with Showstoppers of Southeast Missouri and various other acting seminars and camps.

For Teel, acting plays as important a role as his singing abilities.

"I love to act," he says. Proof of his talents lie in his selection for several leading roles over the past three years at Dexter High School in four major productions, including his recent role as "Shrek" in the fall "Shrek the Musical, Jr." performed recently on the DHS stage.

Miller also has played a variety of both singing and acting roles. She has attended summer music and theater camps at Southeast Missouri State University as well, which each culminate in a stage performance.

Musicality promises to play a significant role in the lives of both Miller and Teel, no matter their career choice. Both, though, intend to make music their focus in their college career following their May 2017 high school graduation.

"I'm very proud of these two students and their prestigious accomplishment," Sepulvado says of Miller and Teel. "They both have great potential. It is always rewarding to see the students grow musically through the years. This is my fifth year with these students (including one year at the middle school level) and it has been a privledge to watch their personalities and their voices develop."