Mound Teen Sings for the Moment

Andrew Alness, a 2011 Mound Westonka High School graduate, has excelled in both academics and music.

His perfect 4.0 grade point average earned him the honor of co-valedictorian of his graduating class. As a representative of the Student Senate, Alness delivered a speech at the graduation ceremony in June.

Alness is also an accomplished singer. In the fall, he will attend Concordia College and plans to major in vocal performance.

“Going out of state wasn’t really a draw for me,” said Alness. “I’m the youngest of five, and I have six nieces and nephews and I wanted to stay in the area so I can see them grow up.”

Alness was recognized by the College Board for outstanding achievement on college-level Advanced Placement (AP) exams. He was also a commended student for the National Merit Scholarship program.

If he receives the anticipated 32-36 college credits for the AP classes he took at MWHS, he’ll be in the middle of sophomore year credit-wise when he starts at Concordia.

“Ideally I’ll be done early because that means less money to have to give to Concordia,” said Alness. “But vocal performance is a huge major, so we’ll see.”

He received an academic merit scholarship and a vocal scholarship from Concordia. In addition to a four-year scholarship from the Northwest Tonka Lions, Alness also received a scholarship from the Popsingers, a singing group he was in this year.

Alness was a member of Mound Westonka High School's concert choir, which was selected to sing in "¡Cantaré!" at the Ordway Center for Performing Arts in May.

"¡Cantaré!" is a unique program that brings a composer from Mexico to schools in Minnesota. After spending time with the concert choir, Horacio Uribe composed special music for them to perform.

He was also a member of the MWHS Madd Jazz Ensemble, which received a superior rating and a Best in Site award at the Regional Jazz Competitions. For his solo performance, Alness received a superior rating by scoring a perfect 40 and Best in Site at the Regional Solo and Ensemble Singing Competition.

“My family has always very been musical,” said Alness when asked about his love of music.

When he was younger, Alness’s mother was the worship leader at Mound Evangelical Church, and he spent time with her at church selecting music. In addition, some of his older siblings were in the Madd Jazz ensemble and the Concert Choir at MWHS.

Alness participated in the Minnesota All-State Choir. Last January, he was also selected to attend the 61st Annual Dorian Vocal Festival at Luther College in Decorah, IA.

“High school choir teachers from the whole Midwest region nominate two to four students to go to Dorian to be part of a mass choir,” said Alness. “It’s just an unbelievable amount of people singing six or seven songs together and it’s a really cool experience.”

Alness has played violin since he was eight years old. He plays in the orchestra at Westwood Community Church and sometimes sings special music at his church.

“I probably took violin lessons until I was 15 or 16,” said Alness. “Then musicals and voice lessons took over my life.”

He also participated in musical productions at MWHS. He received a Spotlight Honorable Mention for his role as Emile in last year's MWHS musical South Pacific.

Alness has also acted in plays. His first large role in last year’s Rumors at MWHS.

“Comedies are ridiculously difficult to do,” said Alness. “It’s really, really fast paced. It’s a really high stress environment.”

Plus, Alness’s character was deaf for half of the show so he yells because he can’t understand what anyone is saying.

“My vocal cords weren’t too happy with that either,” said Alness. “But it was a really fun show. I enjoyed it a lot.”

When he’s done at Concordia College, Alness would love to be a college choir director and perform on the side. However, he said a far more realistic goal is to do some small-scale performing and be a voice teacher at a college.

“I’ve heard that there aren’t as many men in that field, so it’d be easier to get a job, which is always a plus,” said Alness.

This summer, Alness is working full time at Ziegler Cat doing outdoor maintenance.

“In some respects I’m sad to leave for school, but in other ways I’m really excited,” said Alness. “The choir at Concordia is fabulous.”