Five FDSH Students Selected to All-State Music Festival

October 26, 2021, Fort Dodge, IA-  Eleven students from Fort Dodge Senior High recently auditioned for the 2021 Iowa High School Music Association’s All-State Music Festival.  The students selected for the All-State Music Festival represent the top one percent of high school musicians in the state. Selection to the All-State Music Festival is the highest individual honor available to Iowa high school musicians.  Four Dodger vocalists and one instrumental student were selected:

All-State Chorus:

Aaron Amhof – junior – tenor – second year selected

Grace Casciato – junior – alto – second year selected

Ryan Madden – junior – bass – first year selected

Reese Pederson – junior – soprano – first year selected

All-State Band:

Abby Meyer – junior – alto saxophone – first alternate

“After a year of using virtual audition videos due to COVID, it was really fun for our students to be able to see and hear students from other schools performing and to prepare the music for the audition in a more normal way this year,” said Matt Drees, FDSH vocal instructor.

The All-State Music Festival takes place November 18-20 in Ames.  The final concert will take place on Saturday, November 20, at 7:30 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum.  All seats for the concert are reserved and tickets can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com.  All tickets will be digital this year.

“We are extremely proud of each student who auditioned,” Drees said. “Completing the audition process really stretches and challenges the students to grow as musicians, which is absolutely the most important part of the whole process. We are thrilled for the students who were selected to have the opportunity to participate in the festival this year.”