Singing with passion: Gerardo Llamas Wednesday, April 11, 2012 By Karla Garcia Ms. Wendy Kornbeck is honored to have Llamas (right) sing in the California ACDA All-State Honor Choir. - Milesha Morrison Advertising After being in choir for the last four years and singing since the age of six, senior Gerardo Llamas qualified for the All- State Honor Choir. Llamas is the only LAUSD student to be part of the prestigious choir group. The All State Honor Choir is group of select high school choir students from different parts of California. All students must audition in order to get a spot in the group. Llamas, however, did not have to audition, because he received a letter back in December offering him a spot in Honor Choir. Llamas had auditioned for Honor Choir in October, and the judges were impressed with his performance. At first Llamas rejected the idea of participating in All- State Honor Choir because he felt unprepared. After encouragement from Ms. Wendy Kornbeck and his passion for music, he decided to accept the offer. On Saturday March, 24, Llamas, along with over 300 other students from all around California, performed at Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena. The All- State Honor Choir includes a women's, men's and mixed group. Llamas participated in the mixed choir. "I felt nervous, excited, and a bit confused," said Llamas of his performance, "It was a lot of practice, but I enjoyed every part of it.". To prepare for the big performance Llamas had to rehearse for about two months, during nutrition, lunch, after school and at home. Llamas and the rest of the group were able to rehearse only three times together, including one dress rehearsal. Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey are his three musical inspirations. His favorite song to sing is "Over the Rainbow." Llamas likes participating in musicals. He will be participating in the upcoming Venice High musical. Aside from singing, Llamas also enjoys playing the piano, guitar and recorder. Llamas plans to attend Santa Monica College and then transfer to UCLA or Cal State Dominguez Hills. Music and singing will always be part of his life and future career plans, he said. "Music is super important to me. It makes me do great things and has made me a great person," stated Llamas.

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