The biggest lesson I have learned as a musician is that EVERYTHING YOU DO IS AN AUDITION. You simply never know who you might be influencing and how they might somehow become connected to your life, and I always strive to put my best foot forward! Because I would want to know whether my voice teacher could actually sing or not, I am using this space for videos and recordings of myself and possibly my students (with the permission of the performer and their parents/guardians of course!) so you can see my work.
I Like Musicals!
Saturday, April 20, 2024 by Katie Porter | JustForFun
No, really, I do! Enjoy a spontaneous, rainy, palindrome-day solo recording from yours truly! =) (And shameless plug: go see the Madagascar Junior musical at Wayside on May 17th :-P )
All State Choir Camps
Tuesday, February 15, 2022 by Katie Porter | Uncategorized
What is All-State?
The High School All-State process begins in the summer, and summer camp is a great place to start! The students who learn the music early find more success than those who wait to learn it by audition. The whole process consists of four separate auditions spread throughout the fall semester (usually September, October, and November) and into January. A "region clinic and concert" typically happens in November for the students who make the District & Region Choirs, and the big clinic and concert for the students who make the all state choir (from the January audition) is in February at the Texas Music Educator's Association (TMEA) Convention in San Antonio.
New to the process? Here's a great article to explain the process (and the difference between middle school and high school auditions)! https://allstatesinger.com/2018/03/05/what-current-8th-graders-should-know-about-high-school-all-state/
Camp List
Below, I will list the All-State Camps (alphabetically) as I gather information and their registration opens up, so please check back frequently! These camps are not only fantastic for teaching the music and introducing students to the auditions, they are a great opportunity for young students to visit the campuses and get to know the faculty and staff, so if the college/university you're considering attending is on the list or has an all-state camp that I may have missed, I highly recommend you attend their camp if possible!
Bass Hall - (site/dates not yet updated)https://www.basshall.com/childrens-education-program/summer-camps/high-school-choral-camp-registration/
Baylor University - July 5-9, 2022 https://www.baylor.edu/busmc/index.php?id=929211
Dallas Baptist University - (site/dates not yet updated) https://www.dbu.edu/fine-arts/all-state-choir-camp.html
Del Mar College - June 27-July 1, 2022 https://www.delmar.edu/offices/music/choir-camp.html
Houston Baptist University - July 5-8, 2022 https://hbu.edu/school-of-fine-arts/events/choir-camp/
Lamar University - July 17-20, 2022 https://www.lamar.edu/fine-arts-communication/music/summer-camps/all-state-choir-camp/index.html#
Sam Houston State University - July 17-20, 2022 https://www.shsu.edu/academics/music/camps/choir/
Stephen F. Austin University - July 13-16, 2022 https://music.sfasu.edu/outreach.php?link=choircamp
Tarleton University - July 18-20, 2022 https://www.tarleton.edu/summercamps/choir.html
Tarrant County College - (site/dates not yet updated)https://www.tccd.edu/academics/ce/lifelong-learning/youth-programs/choir-workshop/
Texas A&M Commerce - July 6-9, 2022 https://www.tamuc.edu/dept-of-music/summer-camps/
Texas Christian University - July 10-13, 2022 AND July 13-16, 2022 https://finearts.tcu.edu/music/events-and-programs/summer-camps/tcu-horned-frog-all-state-choir-camp/
Texas Tech University - June 21-25, 2022 ttuchoircamp.org
Texas Woman's University - July 20-30, 2022 https://tinyurl.com/2p8s3xw7
University of North Texas - July 6-9, 2022 https://choircamp.music.unt.edu/
University of Texas San Antonio - June 27-30, 2022 https://www.utsamusiccamps.com/all-state-choir-camp.cfm
West Texas A&M University - June 7-10, 2022 https://www.wtamu.edu/academics/college-fine-arts-humanities/school-music/camps/all-state-choir-camp/index.html
I will also be available to teach summer lessons for students who intend to audition for all state. We typically get the list of music at the beginning of May, the packets of music will be available end of May/early June, and rehearsal recordings are available sometime mid-June to early July.
Questions? Reach out at portermusicstudio@gmail.com!
Solo Rehearsal Tracks
Sunday, August 1, 2021 by Katie Porter | Uncategorized
One of my favorite solo and ensemble contest pieces is To The Sky, by Carl Strommen. The melody is so seemingly simple, but the performance of this piece requires a crazy amount of stamina and breath support. It's a beautiful piece. Highly recommend.
For a musical theater staple, I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables delivers the sense of unrequited love and hopelessness that only Les Miserables can provide.
Little Women is a heart-wrenching story by Louisa May Alcott, and when they made a musical out of it, you KNOW they had some emotional ballads ready to go. Some Things Are Meant To Be gives us the hope to keep on living, even though losing is incredibly hard.
Enjoy!
