![Bass Clef Choir members Zion Ondoma, Henry Hansen, and Zerik Nicholson harmonize vocals while singing "Prayer of the Children". “[It’s] a piece dealing with the Bosnian conflicts of the ‘90s,” said Associate Director of Choral Activities Matthew Jensen, “but is applicable to what's happening today all over the world.” The students will perform the song during Large Group Contests in Cedar Falls in May.](https://riverhawkpress.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/20260414_111618-1200x554.jpg)
Applause still echoed through Hilton Coliseum when the 600-voice choir parted to form a narrow alley. 16 singers descend through it, making their way to a set of microphones to sing the small group part in the next song. Among them was MCHS singer Leah Gerrietts.
“Everything kind of stopped around me,” said Gerrietts. “It felt like a movie.”
Gerriets was selected to be a part of a small group excerpt in “Nunc Dimitis,” one of the songs performed by the IHSMA All-State Choir last week in Ames. She was one of eight female voices selected for the small group.
The IHSMA (Iowa High School Music Association) All-State Festival is the most prestigious high school music ensemble in Iowa, including band, orchestra, and choral ensembles. This year, around 6,500 singers competed for 600 slots in the choir alone.
Gerritts, a junior, has auditioned for All-State for the past three years, with this year being the first time she was accepted. “My voice has gotten a lot better from last year,” she said. “I’m way louder than I was before, and I’m more confident than I was last year.”
Thousands of hopefuls audition for All-State each year in the choir alone. They audition first in quartets and are recalled if the judges wish to hear them sing alone.
Gerrietts’ quartet was made up of Zion Ondoma (‘27), Madison Heard (‘27), and Henry Hansen (‘27). All four were accepted into All-State.
“They’re a really good support system,” said Gerrietts. “[They] were always there for me when I was doubting, and I was there for them too.”
After a lengthy wait, Gerrietts found out that she was given a recall. “It was a lot scarier than a quartet because… you’re all on your own,” she said. “But the way Zion said it is that you could show them how good you can sing and how you can like blow them away with your amazing voice.”
When results were finally posted, Gerrietts found her name on the list for the first time.
“I cried,” she said. “I cried very hard, and I hugged Madison, and we were both crying.
“It was just an amazing moment.”
Gerrietts decided to audition for the small group part on the fly when assistant choir director Matthew Jensen asked her if she wanted to. “I solely did it for fun. I didn’t really expect to get in,” she said.
They only made one recording. Gerrietts didn’t even practice beforehand.
So, it’s understandable that Gerrietts would be confused when choir director Ethan Pruisman called her out of eighth-period chemistry over a week later. “I kind of forgot that I [auditioned],” she said, laughing.
Pruisman told her that she had been selected as one of eight girls to perform in the small group. “I was very surprised, and I didn’t really believe it until a few days later,” said Gerrietts. “It was a very pleasant surprise.”
At All-State, Gerrietts was excited to build relationships with the people around her. “I met some great people,” she said. “We [would] talk about what we do in choir. I had a very good conversation with one of them about that.”
Community, a stabilizing force during Gerrietts’ audition for All-State, wasn’t absent in her small group performance either. “It would be scarier if I had a part that only I sang,” she said. “But I felt better because it was a group.”
For Gerrietts, singing for that small group was a big occasion.
“It felt like a monumental moment,” she said. “I was never going to forget it.”
