Senior Sophia Reed has earned an encore appearance in the Ohio Music Education Association’s All-State Choir, which will perform at OMEA’s Professional Development Conference Feb. 4 in Cleveland.
The choir represents the best vocal music students from the state of Ohio, so winning a spot is no easy task. Hopefuls must earn a Superior rating in the previous year’s OMEA Solo and Ensemble competition and submit a recorded audition to All-State Choir directors.
Reed was selected for the 2016 choir and again for 2017 – duplicating the feat of Cloverleaf graduate Jack Gerber, who made back-to-back appearances in 2014 and 2015.
An alto, Reed chose “Danza Danza” by early 18th-century Italian composer Francesco Durante as her OMEA competition and choir audition piece. It’s fast-moving and packs a number of major technical demands into a relatively short space. That makes “Danza Danza” – written in Italian -- particularly challenging.
Reed said the key is not just learning how to pronounce the words, but discovering what’s behind the words. That’s what allows a performer to sing with confidence and emotion, she said. It’s like the difference between an actor memorizing a character’s lines versus becoming that character on stage.
“It’s kind of hard to fake confidence, so you actually have to be confident going in to it,” said Reed.
“There’s study involved in the process – the background of the piece, the meaning of the piece and what the composer had in mind in writing it,” said Cloverleaf High School vocal music teacher Lawrence Timm. Already a naturally talented singer, Timm added, Reed took her skills to the next level this year in terms of preparation.
She’s no stranger to the stage, having performed in numerous Cloverleaf High School dramas and musicals – most recently in the 2016 fall play “David and Lisa,” in which Reed played the role of psychiatrist Dr. Alice Swinford. Her favorite high school performance so far has been as the fairy godmother in the spring 2016 musical “Cinderella.”
“Just because it was so fun,” she said.
In addition to theater, Reed plays alto saxophone in the marching and symphonic bands, and is a member of National Honor Society and the Cloverleaf Community Choir. A resident of Chatham Township, her parents are David and Louise Reed.
She’s is aiming for a career in musical performance and soon will be immersed in preparation for college auditions. In the meantime, Reed will join top vocal students from around Ohio to begin the intense series of 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. rehearsals with the All-State Choir in the days leading up to February’s performance. The choir will be conducted by Dr. Brady R. Allred, artistic director and conductor of the Salt Lake Choral Artists in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“The experience of working with a world-class conductor is beyond measure,” Timm said.
“We couldn’t be any more proud of Sophia,” he added. “It’s a great accomplishment and it’s a favorable spotlight on Cloverleaf as well.”