By Grace Bailes

 

Helias Catholic High School has been represented well by fall sports in the fall of 2025. However, more school extracurricular activities are prospering than just sports.

Helias Catholic Concert Choir is a MSHSAA-sponsored activity, and choir students recently had the opportunity to perform and use their music skills at district levels. 

Twelve students were selected for district choirs, seven in the Honor Choir and five in the Concert Choir. Out of these students, five were eligible for state, and all five students got some level of state recognition.

An audition for students across the district is required for placement in the district choir. The audition consists of singing a selected piece from a list for your voice part and sight reading. 

If selected for the choir, the students had a long, rigorous practice with other district members to gain familiarity with the chosen repertoire of music. 

Also at this rehearsal, juniors and seniors in Honor Choir auditioned for the All-State Choir. The All-State audition is more intense than the district audition.

Susan Bestgen, a Helias Catholic senior, auditioned and made it to the Honor Choir and made it as a soprano in the All-State Choir.

“We sang just one song all the way through with a bunch of different parts behind us,” Bestgen said.

However, All-State auditioners had to wait in anticipation for choir results until the day of the district performance.

On Saturday, Nov. 8, the district choir members departed for Waynesville High School to spend all day singing loud and proud.

“We have a morning section of rehearsals, then we have an hour lunch break, and then we come back for evening to rehearse even more,” Bestgen explained.

Each choir worked with a clinician experienced in choral directing brought in by the district choir board. The Concert Choir worked Mrs. Juliana Pyle, and the Honor Choir worked with Dr. Erin Plisco.

The hard work done with the clinicians was represented by a performance for family and friends following the full-day rehearsals. Following the performance, All-State auditioners had to wait in anticipation to see if they made it into the selective choir.

“I was sick to my stomach just waiting for the results to come out. [Then] I couldn’t believe it. It really felt surreal,” Bestgen said.

Lots of work was required for the district choir members; however, the beauty of singing and making music with the best singers in the district made the experience worth it for many of the members.

Bestgen reflected, “It was a lot of work, but it was so much fun.”

Four other Helias Catholic students receive All-State recognition being within top 10 singers for their voice part in the central district of Missouri: Ethan Hood (12) as a first alternate tenor, Gabe Hammond (12) as honorable mention bass, Alaina Herbold (12) as honorable mention soprano, and Grace Bailes (12) as honorable mention alto.

Bestgen is one of the top four sopranos in the central district and will go to All-State Choir in late January.