Six Albert Lea High School vocalists have been chosen for the Minnesota All-State choirs. This is the maximum number of students that can be chosen from one school. According to Diane Heaney, the choir director at ALHS, the only other time it has happened in Albert Lea was in 2006.

The students were of 320 choral students selected for the elite organizations out of more than 2,000 students who auditioned state-wide.

Zane Aumick and Tanner Shaft will sing in the men’s chorus under the direction of Lee Nelson from Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. Savannah Simpson and Anna Englin will sing in the women’s chorus under the direction of Sandra Peter of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Emma Behling and Jordan Vano will sing in the mixed choir under the direction of Jo-Michael Scheibe from the USC Thornton School of Music. The students will receive their music in early summer and will prepare on their own. They will join together in a camp at St. John’s University in Collegeville from Aug. 5-10 and work all week on their music to present a concert at 10:30 a.m. Aug. 10 in Abbey Church. The All-State choirs will assemble again in February 2014 at Orchestra Hall where they will present their programs for the music teachers attending the Minnesota Music Educators Midwinter conference.