Twenty-four Oxford and Lafayette high school choir students were selected to participate in the American Choral Directors’ Association/Mississippi Music Educators’ Association State Conference at the University of Southern Mississippi next month in a celebration of musical talent from across the state.

Fourteen Oxford High School and ten Lafayette High School students were selected to participate in the conference, which includes high-level instruction from the elite choir directors and a joint performance by students from across Mississippi.

“This is the highest honor that a choral singer can achieve in high school choir in the state of Mississippi, so it not only means a lot to my students and their parents, but also to our school and our program,” said Hannah Gadd Ardrey, the choir director at Lafayette High School.

The students, who each has to go through a lengthy audition process, were selected from a pool of applicants from across the state.

Claire Anne Boudreaux, Tacie Mott, Taylor Bradley, Avery Sams, Sarah Grace Moore, Kamari Jones, Alice Dabbs, Ann Hunter Bigham, Jacob Latil Hudson, Bland Currie Rogers, William Kincaid, Andrew Sanford and Le’Daveon Steen will represent Oxford, while Matthew Addy, Ansley Allen, Aubrey Glenn, Matthew Vanderwall, Maggie Hazlewood, Layla Hill, Mary Kesler, Jasmine Manning, Katy Reeves and Brynna Williams will represent Lafayette.

Sams, Dabbs, Bigham, Sanford, Reeves, Glenn and Manning each finished as one of the top five singers in their respective section.

The ACDA/MMEA conference will take place from March 31 to April 2 at USM in Hattiesburg, Miss.