Monroe High School senior Christian Guy received the opportunity of a lifetime for a choral student in the state of Michigan. He was named a Michigan Youth Arts Distinguished Scholar and attended the Michigan Youth Arts Conference in Kalamazoo May 18-20, where he was among the best youth instrumentalists and singers in the state.

“This is a huge event that goes on, taking students from the best choirs at a regional level, then from a state level, to get to the all-state level,” he said. “This is their life. It’s so refreshing to have that same level of commitment. This was the first experience that I have had working at this level. It was spectacular.”

In its 55th year, he Michigan Youth Arts Conference, held on the campus of Western Michigan University, brings together students from all over the state to celebrate excellence in not only choir and band, but in many other performing arts, including dance, television production, visual arts, and musical theatre.

“We are so proud of Christian and everything he and all of our choir students have achieved,” Monroe Public Schools Superintendent Julie Everly said. “The students have shown such passion for signing and the staff, especially Cate Windleborn (Monroe High School Choir Director), are so dedicated to fostering that passion.”

The Michigan School Vocal Music Association’s (MSVMA) All-State Honors Choir is the third stage in a very competitive field of the best singers in the state. Students first begin by auditioning for Regional Honors Choir in October, then State Honors Choir in December. If a student is able to climb those ranks, he or she has an opportunity to try out for All-State, which takes normally a little over 100 students state-wide.

“I’m in my 21st year of teaching and I’ve had two make it that far,” said Windleborn. “It’s a huge deal. If you take all four sections separately, that means that Christian is one of the best 25 basses in the entire state. I’m so proud of him and the experience was able to have.”

Even though Guy had made it to what Windleborn, who accompanied him on this trip, describes as “the pinnacle group,” his work was far from done.

“Once you get there, the choir is given a little time to find their sound and then they give you four random parts that you need to have memorized,” Guy said. “You could go home. It’s high stakes. You need to know your music right there.”

Making it past the initial testing phase, the choir then practices eight hours a day on seven pieces. Each section practices separately initially, but when the choir comes together for the first time, the results, Guy says, are, “like a revelation.”

“You never expect it to sound so beautiful.”

The final night finds the choir performing in front of the entire conference of artists and musicians. Being able to watch the best of the best performing their honed crafts is an experience itself, but being able to be a part of it according to Guy was another thing altogether.

“That night was ridiculous,” he said. “You’re not even thinking. You’re just experiencing something taking over your soul. Just being able to perform there is an honor. You all start singing and everyone in the crowd is just giving a blank stare as they are enraptured.”

The experience of the conference is one that Windleborn says Guy deserved whole-heartedly.

“He’s a great kid,” she said. “We are going to miss him; he’s my big bass. I love that he is an independent learner. I don’t have to feed him his parts. He can just look at them and figure it out, or if not, he’ll sit down at the piano and do it. He practices on his own. Christian rocks!”

Guy’s accolade is just another in a long line of successes that the Monroe High School choirs have achieved this year, including straight ones at Festival this year and two students taking time to form and lead their own ensembles. Windleborn says she has a lot to be proud of in what could be considered a landmark year for the choir.

"We've been growing and growing at the high school,” she said. “We’ve had larger numbers than I have seen in seven years. Thanks to Elise Dinwoody, the middle school program has gotten stronger and stronger. We have students like Christian who take initiative, like Zachary Everly and Tristan Daniels who are leading practices for their own choirs. I just can’t say enough about this group. They are great.”