Aubrea Cook has firmly etched her place alongside other vocal music standouts at Lone Grove.

In January, Cook achieved the goal of being named to the All-State Mixed Choir and achieved the distinction of earning All-State honors for all three years of high school competition. She had previously made All-State on the Women’s Treble Choir.

“I was extremely happy that I made women’s choir, and I wanted to make mixed choir,” Cook said. “I was making women’s choir, and I was very excited. But I wanted the top-notch choir.”

Cook said mixed choir was her biggest goal and achieving that dream made her feel a lot better as a musician. It was her full sum of work, dating back to seventh grade, which led Cook to realize her dream and learn important life lessons in the process.

Cook came up short in her bid to make Junior High All-State in the seventh and eighth grade. She said those outcomes made her put in the work to earn All-State, which she accomplished as a freshman.

“I did get discouraged a couple of times,” Cook said. “I was like, ‘What am I doing wrong?’ Then, it just gets me to set a goal for next year. Maybe I didn’t do good in this area, and I can do better in this area. And, I also had a lot of people that encouraged me.”

Cook said she practiced more and focused on the things that she felt could be improved on. It gave her confidence as she saw different opportunities to reach her goals.

A love of music goes beyond voice for Cook, who also plays the flute. She said music has been her favorite because it offers a place where she can go and feel comfortable as herself.

“It was something I really enjoyed, and I could really feel like I could open up about it,” Cook said. “Music has gotten me through a lot of tough times too.

“I have always looked to music or if I get frustrated, sometimes I will get out my music or in band I will get out my flute. It kind of puts me in a different world where I can get away from some things.”

Cook is an Alto 2 and prefers songs with feeling.

“I have been told that when I sing songs that have a sad tone to it, I have been told that it really fits my voice because I can put the emotion into the song,” she said. “And I kind of like those too because I can take it somewhere. I can feel where it is going and I can critique it, what I want it to sound like.”

Cook said she feels like she can get people to understand what the song is about through her performance.

Her abilities shined when she achieved her goal of making the All-State Mixed Choir. She enjoyed the experience, getting to meet people with the same interests and getting additional lessons from the out-of-state instructors.

“They have tons of knowledge about different stuff,” she said. “I feel like it made me a better musician those years going to All-State because I had the opportunity to learn what they were teaching me, stuff I would not really learn in the classroom.”

Cook said lessons were more detailed and specific. Following a couple of days with instruction, there was a concert featuring the vocalists from throughout the state. Cook said it can be nerve-racking performing in front of over 800 people, but she had previous years of experience to lean on.

“It was a really great experience,” Cook said. “It was an experience I might not get to have ever and of course this year was my last one. But it was probably my best one.”

The experience of making the Mixed Choir turned out to be as good as advertised for the Lone Grove senior and provided lifetime memories and lessons.

“It was kind of better than I thought because when I went to All-State, I was really excited because there was stuff I wasn’t expecting,” she said. “I was getting taught all these things. It is almost a free lesson, and I don’t have to pay for it. It is really cool.”

Cook plans on attending Southwestern Oklahoma State University next year where she will be in the band and pursue a degree related to the flute.