After countless hours of nonstop voice lessons every week, lunches spent in the choir room, and months worth of competing, junior Kaitlin Brummer steps into center stage to perform the solo that is about to earn her a spot in Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) State Championships for choirs. As Brummer enters the building to register alongside her director, Karen Paul, she rehearses the three songs each candidate gets during the first of TMEA, not knowing which song will be the one she’ll have to perfect in a matter of hours before a judge.
TMEA specializes in enhancing musically talented students throughout the state of Texas. For the TMEA Choir, each candidate will audition with a song and will be classified into one of four parts based on their vocal range. From alto two as the lowest vocal range to soprano one as the highest range, Brummer was classified as a soprano two, which then was able to be presented for the judges to prove her range. TMEA State Choir Competition is held in February 2025 and has almost 1400 students qualify each year. With Brummer’s determination, work ethic, and friends she takes on the thrill of the competition.
“Since I am in the middle area with TMEA it tends to get a little crazy with the music selected,” Brummer said. “This is because the directors there will choose really difficult music to push our limits since Texas is known to have one of the best all-state choirs.”
Learning her section of music only a few hours before her big performance puts a lot of pressure on her to perform as much as possible to limit her nerves. Brummer said that “the mental aspect of performing in front of people can only be cured by performing as much as possible.” This helps Brummer succeed in performing on the spot and also sneaking in extra practice whenever she can.
“She’s always in a practice room, and every chance she gets to improve, she does so whenever she can,” senior choir vice president Avalynn Ratliff said. “It’s fun getting to work with her due to how truly passionate she is about music.”
While the clock ticks down until performance time, Brummer said that she always “expects something to go wrong” so she can always be prepared for unexpected events. This helps Brummer’s competitive mentality so that she is more motivated to practice even more than she does. Though she works on her management of each section herself, she is immensely inspired by her colleagues in the Bearcat Choir.
“Watching her sing during our choir contest is just so inspiring,” sophomore Violet Chloe said. “I mean the only way I could describe her is that she is so hard-working and seeing how successful she is in her academics and her acquired life is just breathtaking.”
