High Marks - and Notes - For Lakes Choir at Regional Competition

Lakes High School’s tradition of vocal excellence continued over the weekend as several students qualified for the state choir competition.

The Lancers competed in the Washington Music Educators Association’s Mountain Region Solo-Ensemble Contest Saturday at Curtis Junior High School in University Place. The contest is a state qualifying event for the WIAA-WMEA State Solo and Ensemble Contest on April 27-28 at Central Washington University.

“I’m so proud of our kids,” said Lakes choir director Dr. Ben Keller. “It was a great day to be a Lancer.”

Lakes received Superior (I) ratings and automatic state entries in the following categories:

Soprano: Kylie Hamlin, winner;
Bass: Devon Benjamin, winner;
Large Mixed Ensemble: Voices of Gold, winner;
Men's Small Ensemble: Men's Quartet (Benjamin, DaMarr Milligan, Sapa Doiron, Aaron Seigler), winner;
Mixed Small Ensemble: Mixed Duet (Hamlin and Benjamin), first alternate to state.

Receiving an Excellent rating were:

Women's Duet (Sabrina Amaya, Kathryn Zhuravleva) II+;
Charné Langdon II+;
Kassie Lauritzen II.

“I was extremely proud of our students' performances and the way they represented our school in general,” Keller said. “We are so fortunate to have such a talented group of singers that really stepped up and made things happen.”