On Saturday, Jan. 10, the LC-M Choir sent three members to compete in the area level competition for All-Region Choir, where the best singers from different areas of Texas compete for a chance to sing with other students at the state level. After competing, sophomore Chase Courtier, junior Hannah Hodges and senior Taryn LaCour reached the state level.

This was Courtier’s first year making state and he hopes that it will not be his last. It is a great honor to make state at any point in your high school career and a singer must put in a lot of work in order to get to that point.

“I planned on getting as far as I could in All Region,” Courtier said.

For LaCour, making state was perhaps even more memorable because it is her senior year.  She is involved in many other things besides choir, such as drill team, which makes it difficult to devote the time needed to learn the difficult music.

“Staying dedicated to learning my music was the most difficult obstacle in my journey to state, not because I don’t love doing it, but because there are so many other things I have to do and music is very time consuming,” LaCour said.

Hodges said she has been singing her whole life and she even had a solo in the Battlin’ Bear Band Halftime show last year. This was Hodges’ second consecutive year to make the women’s state choir and is another step in her musical journey. Hodges said she loves to sing and even wants to major in music vocals because it’s her passion.

“Singing is my favorite way to express myself,” she said. “I can pour my heart into a piece of music and allow others to feel emotion through the words being sung.”