High School Choir
2026-27
Dustin Cates
Dustin S. Cates is a teacher, conductor, researcher, and a proud native of Kansas City, Missouri. He is passionate about building meaningful relationships with people through music and empowering future conductor-teachers to discover and embrace their authentic voice. Dr. Cates serves as Associate Professor of Choral Music Education at Temple University's Boyer College of Music and Dance, part of the Center for Performing and Cinematic Arts (Philadelphia, PA). At Temple, he conducts the University Chorale, supervises graduate students, and teaches courses in music education, choral/vocal pedagogy, and choral methods. A frequent clinician and presenter, Dr. Cates regularly leads professional development workshops for music educators and serves as a guest conductor for honor choirs and music festivals throughout the United States. He holds undergraduate and doctoral degrees in choral music education from the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory and a master's degree from Baker University (Baldwin, KS). Prior to his appointment at Temple, he served as Artistic Director and Conductor of Heartland Men's Chorus (Kansas City, MO), Associate Director of Worship Arts at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection (Leawood, KS), and taught high school choral music in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Dr. Cates is the former National Repertoire and Resources Chair for Tenor/Bass Choirs for the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA), past president of the Kansas Choral Directors Association, and currently serves as ACDA Eastern Region Diversity Initiatives and Conference Chair.
Important Dates
Aug. 22 - Kick-off meeting @ Andover-Central HS
Oct. 11 - Audition Registration Deadline - $10 per audition
Oct. 25 - Audition Registration - Late Deadline #1 - $35 per audition
Nov. 5 - Audition Registration - Late Deadline #2 - $60 per audition
Nov. 7 - Audition Registration - Late Deadline #3 - $100 per audition
Nov. 7 - Auditions @ Goddard HS
Dec. 5 - Clinics & Concerts @ Maize South HS - $15 participation fee per selected student
Eligibility
Sponsoring teachers must be a member of NAfME-KMEA for students to be considered for KMEA honor groups. All choir students will remain eligible for the State Choir(s) as long as the registration deadlines and corresponding fees are met. 9th graders are eligible for selection to the KMEA All-State High School Choirs.
Audition Registration
Auditions are registered in the KMEA Members portal.
Fees
Use the SCKMEA Invoice Generator to create invoices. An invoice print-out must be enclosed with each payment. All payments for fees must be made payable to SCKMEA and sent to the Executive Director
SCKMEA Executive Director
Bryan Kirk
603 E. Central Ave
Andover, KS 67002
Bryan Kirk
603 E. Central Ave
Andover, KS 67002
Audition Requirements
Students may audition for only ONE festival group (band, choir, or orchestra). Students selected to participate in one of District Choirs are required to participate in ALL the rehearsals and the District Honor Choir Performance to remain eligible for selection to All-State Choir.
Practice Files
Practice files will be made available in the KMEA Members portal for directors to download.
Audition Cuts
Audition cuts will be made available the week of the November auditions.
Audition Repertoire & Procedures
The All-State audition repertoire list is on the KMEA website. For auditions, students must use originals for all audition pieces.
- Students will enter their designated room with original copies to sing for a panel of judges
- Students should not speak when they enter
- A director will start the audition track and will conduct your student in order to help the appropriate visual cues for entrances, cut-offs, and phrasing.
- Upon completion of the audition cut, students should pick up their originals and leave the room without speaking.
After you register your students we will send out an email with more details about the day of auditions. DIRECTORS MUST BE AVAILABLE TO JUDGE, DIRECT or TABULATE FROM 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM THE DAY OF AUDITIONS. If you cannot be there or are not available for the ENTIRE day, you must send a willing and able director/sponsor in your absence or your school will be assessed a fine from SCKMEA. We need all hands on deck to make this huge event work smoothly! If you have specific requests regarding audition times, please email them to me and I will attempt to honor all requests. Also, if you teach both vocal and instrumental music, please let me know if you have instrumental judging duties as soon as you can.
Audition Selections
| Treble Voices | Tenor/Bass Voices |
|
Hoj Hura Hoj Otmar Mácha SSAA, Alliance Publications Inc. Walk Together Children Moses Hogan SSAATTBB arr. Moses Hogan |
Kde Sú Krávy Moje Hans Schimmerling SATB, Associated Music Pub. Walk Together Children Moses Hogan SSAATTBB arr. Moses Hogan |
Repertoire
Mixed ChoirTBA
Treble Choir
TBA