All-State Choir results were announced on Sunday night. Four Derby students made the roster – senior Emily Alumbaugh, sophomore Angela Cortes, senior Aaron Elwood and junior David Romo. Alumbaugh also made state in 2016.

“I was definitely more excited for myself last year and way more excited for everyone else this year. This year it was kind of like, ‘Sweet! Now I don’t have to be worried anymore,” Alumbaugh said. “But oh my gosh, two of my closest choir friends are going to be there with me, and Angela made it as a sophomore and a soprano. I was super excited for her because there are so many sopranos, so there’s a lot of competition.”

Cortes added: “I was really surprised. Derby has so many talented voices, much better than myself, so I wasn’t even thinking about getting into All-State.”

The audition process starts at district level, where the students audition against other students in the South Central district. Derby had 29 make district and one alternate, doubling its numbers from last year in both district and state.

The judges choose the All-State members from the same district audition, but only sophomores, juniors and seniors are eligible. The state results are not announced until after the district performance, which was on Saturday.

Two hundred and fifty-six singers were selected and will perform on Saturday, Feb. 24 at 1:15 p.m. in the Century II Concert Hall in Wichita.

“I love performing in groups. Everyone works so hard to get their own individual part down, and when you get to come together to make beautiful music, it’s very rewarding,” Cortes said.