On Sat. May 3, a group of students from Francis Howell North will be competing once again in the Solo and Ensemble choir competition, but this time it’s not districts, it is the state competition.

“At the first competition, Districts, they had to get a ‘one’ to qualify for State. They’ve all already been recognized as some of the best, so now they compete at State with the best of the best,” Choir teacher Lorraine Smith said.

Each group or soloist will perform two songs; songs include Omnia Soul, Handsome Butcher, Song of the Mira and El Grio. All though some consider them to be the best of the best, students do have some concerns about the upcoming performance.

“Even though the judge didn’t notice, I hope we don’t skip the last page again like we did at Districts.” Junior Jillian Strickland said, “I think we’ll do pretty good if we do it how we did at practice. We were pretty solid.”

Students will head to Columbia Missouri on Fri. May 2, and go out to dinner for a group celebration. They will then spend the night at a nearby hotel, playing games and going swimming, until the next morning when they will head to various places on Mizzou’s campus to perform.

“I’m excited because I had a lot of fun last time and this is my last year,” senior Vanessa Taylor said, “I’m glad to be spending my last State Solo and Ensemble competition with them.”