Riva Sharples | Editor
RSharples@ncppub.com
It was a whirlwind week of practices and performances for area students involved in the 2025 South Dakota All-State Choir, which culminated in the 73rd annual concert held last weekend in Sioux Falls.
Eight delegates from Beresford alongside four delegates from Alcester-Hudson were part of the choir, which comprised more than 900 representatives from every high school in South Dakota. The students spent two intense days in rehearsals in Sioux Falls before delivering the final, formal concert to a packed crowd last Saturday night at the Denny Sanford Premier Center. The concert was televised live on SDPB and is set to be re-broadcast on Thanksgiving Day.
The concert kicked off with a performance by the All-State Orchestra, made up of students from larger schools that offer orchestra programs in the state.
The All-State Chorus performed two numbers with the orchestra, singing the opening and closing selections: “Until I Reach My Home” and the stirring “Battle Hymn of the Republic” to close.
Dr. Jeffery Redding, the Director of Choral Activities at the University of Central Florida, was the guest choral conductor for the 2025 All State Chorus. Redding spoke briefly about how much work the students had put in during their two days of long practice sessions and how impressed he was with the passion of the students. The program he designed, he explained, was all about caring for one another in this world.
The chorus sang five selections a capella or accompanied by piano and/or guitar: “It Takes a Village” by Joan Szymko, “Plaudite, Psallite” by Kestutis Daugirdas, “Measure Me, Sky!” by Elaine Hagenberg, “Fever Dreams” by Erich Eastman, and “Let Me Listen” by Dan Forrest.
Music swelled through the Denny as the 900+ voices impressively came together to deliver the numbers.
The eight singers in the 2025 All State Chorus representing Beresford included: Emma Andrews, Anna Latendresse, Colby Huot, Maxwell Kinney, Lillie Boden, Izzy Beeson, Hunter Penn, and Mobi Merriman.
Alcester-Hudson’s delegates were: Lauren Meier, Olivia Moore, Natalie Moore, and Torrance Serck.
The grand All-State performance over the weekend was the culmination of hard work by delegates and alternates from each school who spent the past six weeks preparing for the concert. Each week leading up to the big event, students in the region gathered at Beresford High School on Monday nights to practice their music. Many of the students also attended a day-long workshop in early October at USD to work on the music, and so traveled to SDSU for a workshop as well.
Last Wednesday, Oct. 29, delegates and alternates from schools in the region (including Beresford, Centerville, Alcester-Hudson, Irene-Wakonda, Canton, Dakota Valley, Harrisburg, Canton, etc.) embarked together on a one-day tour, singing their songs at different locations in the area.
This year, the regional Tour Day concert locations were: Hurley, Parker, Canton, Irene, and Beresford, where the alternates and delegates performed for school and community members at each location in a whirlwind day of travel and performances.
Congratulations, students, on a great choral performance.