Emily Wade

Emily Wade, a junior member of the Tyler Consolidated High School Choir, has earned one of 15 alto spots in the 2012 West Virginia All State Chamber Choir.

Wade is very active in the TCHS Choir program. She has been selected for Junior High All State Chorus, was a member of the West Virginia All State Chorus her sophomore year and also made the All State Chamber Choir as a sophomore. Emily has earned superior ratings at the West Virginia Vocal Solo & Ensemble Festival, has performed solos, has performed at the Marshall University Choral Festival, and has performed with the TCHS Chamber Choirs and Madrigal Choirs in Tennessee, and Maryland where they earned first place awards and the Esprit de Corps Award both years.

She is an honor roll student, has performed in schools plays, and is a member of the Spanish Club. Emily is member of The River of Life Pentecostal Church where she performs with the choir and as a soloist. Wade is also a dedicated and active member of the youth group.

She is the daughter of Jamie and Kristy Wade of Middlebourne.

The audition process for the group requires students to sing excerpts from the actual concert program for a judge and then see another judge to exhibit their rhythmic, sight singing, and tonal memory skills. Students are then selected by total score with the cut off at the top 15 sopranos, top 15 altos, top 10 tenors, and top 10 basses. Emily earned the 4th high Alto II spot.

Judges for the event included Lewis Hall and Lauren Linsey of Alderson Broaddus College, Dr. Dirk johnson of West Virginia State College, Dr. jeffrey Johnson of WVU, and Dr. Jimmy Shepherd of Concord University.

This choir is the top honor in the state of West Virginia for choral music students and is sposnored by the West Virginia Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. The All State Chamber Choir was organized in 1993 by a few choir directors in the state who believed that there should be a more select choir offered to the most outstanding singers in high school choirs.

Teachers who were instrumental in starting the All State Chamber Choir were Dan Thomas (currently retired from St. Marys HS), Leslie Garrett (Wheeling Park HS), Ed Harkless (Cabell Midland HS), John Ryder (retired from Ripley HS), and Clara Glover (Tyler Consolidated HS.)

High schools in the state who are represented by members of the All State Chamber Choir include: Brooke HS, Cabell Midland HS, Chapmanville HS, Greenbrier East HS, Jefferson HS, Parkersburg HS, Parkersburg South HS, PikeView HS, Preston HS, Ravenswood HS, Ripley HS, Tyler Consolidated HS, University HS, and Washington HS.

The All State Chamber choir will rehearse and perform in Charleston on Feb. 2-4, 2012. The closing concert will be performed at the Clay Center on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 1 p.m. and is open to the public.