A successful audition for Greathouse

According to Ian, he has been musically inclined since he was small.

“I’ve been taking piano since third grade and in fifth grade I began playing the trumpet,” he said. “I still play the trumpet in the RHS band.”

Daniel Ricks, choir director at Ripley High School, said he was excited to see Ian when he began his new position last year.

“Ian was in the concert choir when I first began working at Ripley High School,” Ricks said. “I had worked with him in band camp during the summer, so he was a familiar face when I got here.”

According to Ricks, Ian is a “goober,” but is a great leader and can play piano really well.

“There are a ton of music educators that have poured into his music abilities,” Ricks said. “He did a lot on his own and has really stepped up into leadership roles in his own goofy way.”

Recently, Ian and two others from Ripley were given the opportunity to audition for a prestigious honor choir through the West Virginia American Choral Directors Association (ACDA).

The ACDA is a nonprofit music-education organization with the purpose of promoting excellence in choral music through performance, composition, publication, research and teaching.

The audition consisted of bits of songs, singing minor scales, sight reading and counting and clapping normal and compound rhythms.

“The competition is very difficult to get in and Ian made it, he was one of the top eight,” Ricks said. “It has been several years since Ripley has had anyone make the honor choir.”

Ian said it was a hard audition and very competitive.

“The audition also consisted of singing in other languages,” he said. “We had to sing songs in Hebrew and Latin, as well as English.”

He claims he was pretty anxious, but he was able to calm down for the audition.

“I was very nervous when I stepped out of the practice room and I was a little nervous when I introduced myself, but after that my nervousness settled,” Ian said.

Competition is something Ian enjoys, although he says he is not a competitive person.

“I enjoy competition for making new friends, but I am more of a passive person,” he said.

Ian will be attending the honor choir conference in Morgantown for three days in February.

He is looking forward to the conference very much.

“I feel very privileged to be accepted to the honor choir and I am looking forward to singing with the other 63 people from the state that made it in,” he said. “I just want to have a good time and enjoy my time there.”