“Music is shorthand for emotions.” A quote from the Russian writer, moral philosopher, and social thinker, Leo Tolstoy, captures the intimate relationship between music and human expression. Tolstoy believed that music could capture feelings that couldn’t be expressed in words. The 2026 Oregon Music Education Association High School All-State event took place from January 16th to January 18th. During this weekend, the best high school musicians in the state came together to create music. The members of the 11th and 12th-grade choir were asked one simple question:
“How does music affect you?”
“I feel like you can always find a song for every emotion.”
Senior Ava Gray
Reynolds High School
“It can really get me out of my head.”
Senior Eliza Kelchner
Tiger High School
“It helps me decompress.”
JuniorFern Zu Felt
Tiger High School
“I really like how I can just go sing. It takes me away from everything else.”
Junior Madison Needham
Sherwood High School
“That’s [music] my way of calming down my brain.”
Senior Hope Carr
Sherwood High School
“Having music accompany the special moments in my life as they pass me by makes those moments mean infinitely more to me.”
Senior Elian Martinez
Roseburg High School
“[Whenever] I can feel a panic attack coming on, I play a song, and it helps reset me.”
Junior Mckinley Fisher
St. Mary’s Academy
“It helps me get through the times that are not very fun. “
Junioe Kalea Cho
Lake Oswego High School
“Music is something that we can all enjoy. It’s something that connects all of us.”
Senior Nate Niccum
Lake Oswego High School
“I feel like music is very vulnerable. It’s easier to make closer bonds with people because of it.”
Junior Harmony Yount
Lake Oswego High School
“A lot of times, [music] help[s] me keep[s] my brain on track.”
Senior Roan Rocha
Lake Rich High School
“It helps me tune everything out that’s in the world.”
Senior Zaila Pedro
Woodburn High School
“I feel like the energy of the songs really gets my energy going.”
Senior Skyler Wang
South Albany High School
“Music has made me understand myself a little better. I really connect with how I’m feeling about specific things in my life.”
Junior Dash Pappas
South Albany High School
“It makes me feel happy, because it’s something I’m really passionate about.”
Senior Phoebe Mills
Lincoln High School
“[It] helps me decompress.”
Junior Joe Emery
Lincoln High School
“Listening to happy things to make me feel better.”
Junior Yan Beskorovanynaya
Valley Catholic High School
“It helps me process my emotions. It’s also really, it’s calming to me.”
Junior Laura Frazier
Trinity Lutheran School
“When I listen to music, it’s easy to feel not alone.”
senior Karlyn Perlmutter
Sherwood High School
“Music is just so much more entertaining.”
Junior Jos Jones
Wilsonville High School
“It makes me so happy. There’s nothing like it.”
Junior Abraham Peykanu
Wilsonville High School
“Music has always been one of the things that I know I can turn to.”
Junior Acel Lauthner
Wilsonville High School
“It drowns out the background noise, and it just calms me down.”
Senior Camila Castillo-Gordian
Sutherland High School
“I get anxious at certain times. Just listening to music helps me to be able to relax and improve my mood.”
Senior Annabelle Cook
Sutherland High School
