March 28, 2024

Newton students earn accolades for musical talent

Musicians, vocalists both received honors

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Some of the Newton area’s top vocalists and musicians were recently honored for their dedication to their art.

Two Newton High School freshmen, Laura Wyre and Chase Kolpin, earned the prestigious honors of being selected to the 2015 OPUS Ninth Grade Honor Choir. NHS seniors Bailey Cupples and Jonah Keeton were selected from an Oct. 24 audition to perform with the All-State Chorus in its Nov. 21 Festival Concert at Hilton Coliseum in Ames.

Morgan Peterson and Gracie Vesper, students at Newton Christian School, were recently selected for participation in the 30th Annual Opus Honor Choir Festival. Three other NCS students — Sarah Malsom, Brianna Bower and Peter Larson — were selected to participate in the recent South Central Iowa Bandmasters Association Honor Band performance.

Newton High School’s first-year music teacher, David Baxter, said more than 3,000 students sent in recorded auditions for the OPUS, and 720 were selected to one of the four OPUS Honor Choirs.

The 2015 OPUS Honor Choirs will perform at 4 p.m., Nov. 19, in C.Y. Stephens Auditorium in the Iowa State Center in Ames. The OPUS Honor Choir Festival is under the auspices of the Iowa Choral Directors Association, Inc.

Also performing at Stephens Auditorium on Nov. 19 will be Peterson and Vesper from Newton Christian. Peterson, a sixth-grader, and Vesper, a fifth-grader, were prepared by NCS music teacher Mary Fopma.

Cupples and Keeton of NHS were among thousands of choral students at a daylong audition in Indianola on Oct. 24 for spots in the Iowa All-State Chorus. Approximately 17 percent of students who audition are selected for the 601-voice ensemble, and Cupples and Keeton made the cut.

The Cardinal pair will join the other all-state participants in rehearsals on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 20 and 21. The Festival Concert will be presented to the public at 7:30 pm., Nov. 21, in Hilton Coliseum on the Iowa State University campus.

Tickets are $20 each, and all seats are reserved. Tickets may be purchased from the ISU Athletics Ticket Office or through Ticketmaster.

Iowa Public Television will record the concert for re-broadcast. For exact dates and times, visit www.iptv.org.

Malsom, Bower and Larson are Newton Christian middle-schoolers who were selected to participate in the South Central Iowa Bandmasters Association Honor Band performance, held Nov. 3 at Centennial High School in Ankeny.

Malsom and Bower are seventh-graders, chosen for the “Red Band,” where honorees were recommended by their band instructors. Larson, an eighth-grader, earned a seat in the “Blue Band” for demonstrating outstanding instrumental skills in an audition setting.

Larson, an eighth grader, earned a seat in the Blue Band for demonstrating outstanding instrumental skills in an audition setting.

The three NCS students are under the direction of instrumental teacher Jean Ibbotson.