Observing the magic of the All States Choir event at Boston Symphony Hall

On Saturday, March 29, 2025, I watched the All States choir performance at Boston Symphony Hall. All States is a select group of choral students from across the state, chosen through a selective audition process from the district’s performance. They participate in a statewide music event, which is often a concert. They get to rehearse for long hours over a few days and then perform together.

This year, ARHS had five participants: Sophie Michel, Hayden Triozzi, Ana Ruiz, Miira Englehardt, and Alex Robb, all singing in the choir. They were accompanied by our school’s choir director, Todd Fruth, for rehearsals and the performance. 

One of the key things I noticed in this group was how extraordinarily blended the choir sounded. With around 300 participants from grades 9-12, it was very impressive to see the coordination and balance they had with each other. They took the phrase “power in numbers” to a whole new level. During one number, “Gather at the River,” I noticed just how coordinated they were. Some parts of this piece included most of the choir singing runs in harmony with each other, which was very clean and well-executed. 

At different points throughout the set list, there were times when notes were sustained for long periods, and the singers had to use “staggered breathing“ (a technique that singers use to maintain a continuous sound together, by taking breaths at slightly different times) to create a sustained note.

This year, the guest conductor for the choir was Dr. Julie Yu, a Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies at the Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University. I found her conducting intriguing; she used a lot of expression through her hands and sometimes even came to a stop to allow her singers to take the reins of their performance, showcasing their talent. Her passion radiated throughout the room and was incredibly inspiring. 

Something I noticed from the singers as a whole was their body language. For most of the concert, there were a majority of people who were clearly engaged with the music. On the other hand, a couple of people in the choir group seemed to be less engaged and enthusiastic about the performance, which stuck out to me more when the surroundings were filled with this enthusiasm. Overall, this wasn’t a sore spot in this performance, just another thing worth noting.

Dynamics in these songs were well-practiced; they made the big parts of these pieces really stand out, and I could tell there was a clear intention to the sound. Often in choral music, dynamics can “make or break” the execution of the songs, and with these experienced singers, they knew how to leave a lasting impression of their performance. 

Another striking moment was at the end of their performance, when they sang “Hela Rotan,” an Indonesian folk song, depicting a “tug of war” competition with swaying, pulling movements at the climax of the song, which is originally written as part of the piece in the score. It really stood out to me how they were able to stay so coordinated with each other, with everyone in the group singing and moving in unison.