Amongst all the kids at Potosi High School, two lead the way in the high school music world to compete alongside others in the area. Preston Wunderlin, a junior, and Lacey Langmeier, a senior, have always had a love for music from a young age. Since elementary school, they have gone out of their way to be involved in music. In elementary school, they were in musicals and required to participate in music class. Now in high school, they both choose to take choir, band, and be in the musical, as well as the honor band, and compete in solo and ensemble together as singing a duet.
Lacey and Preston both talked about how they grew close enough to each other to be comfortable performing together. “Preston and I grew closer when we both started high school. We were in choir together the year before. I don’t remember how we became friends; it just sort of happened, and we instantly clicked,” Lacey stated. Later, Preston said, “Yes, and from there we continued to grow comfortable and push each other to do more over the years.”
They were both involved in the high school choir when Preston was in 8th grade and Lacey was in 9th grade. At this time, the Potosi High School Choir was going through many choir instructors. It was not until Lacey's sophomore year and Preston's freshman year that the school hired a permanent choir teacher, Mr. Ray Calderon, for the second semester. This was also the year that Preston joined Lacey in the high school band, which, like the choir, had brought in a new director.
In her sophomore year, Lacey wanted to go outside of her comfort zone and expand the activities she was involved in. After three weeks of getting to know the new choir instructor, Lacey brought the idea of entering in solo and ensemble competition to him. When asked whether she was going to do a solo, a duet, or a group performance, she said she was interested in a duet with Preston. At the time, Mr. Ray, being new, wasn’t very familiar with their friendship, but agreed to look into them performing together. To get more information, Mr. Ray later called Preston into his room and, upon asking him about it, found that Preston didn’t know much about it and was not as interested as Lacey had earlier claimed. Instead, Preston and Lacey continued doing music for fun.
The two would go into Mr. Morley, the band director's, practice room, located inside the band room. This room is a safe place for kids to practice, and there is even a piano in the room. To help them have fun with music, Lacey downloaded a piano app on her phone to help them learn to play the songs they loved, so they could both sing and play them. For additional help, they would call Mr. Morley in to answer questions and show them how to do what the app couldn’t teach. As they learned and became more comfortable, they let close friends in to hear them. With support from friends as well as the choir and band directors, Preston eventually agreed to enter in solo and ensemble with Lacey.
After both Lacey and Preston agreed to enter a duet, they began to work with Mr. Ray outside of class. This helped Mr. Ray to understand their voices from a music professional standpoint, and each of them to understand their voices as far as what they were capable of. They would work on voice exercises and find the ranges they were most comfortable with. Working together outside of class also helped them to notice how their voices fit together and what strengths they had together, and what both of their weaknesses were. This was only the beginning of their performances together, and they worked together almost every study hall to be prepared for the performance that March. The following year, they would come in about three study halls a week to practice for fun, and occasionally to practice for their pieces as they had all year to learn them.
Preston and Lacey would often be found practicing their own pieces for their duet or other pieces for fun in their free time. Some of these moments were caught by Mr. Ray, who would find them during his prep period. “I would go quickly to go, maybe to wash my hands or something, I would come back, and here the two of them would be either in the practice room or sitting here at the big piano.”
Each year, it was Lacey who would be the first to come to Mr. Ray, and each year, Preston would say no, but inevitably agree to perform. As soon as the two came to Mr. Ray with their decision each year, he would step in and help them find their pieces, reassess their voices, and guide them in practice to reach their desired goals. It would take at least a month each time to find the piece that they really liked and wanted to perform. Sometimes they would pick one and start practicing and realize it wasn’t the one.
The first year that they agreed to do a duet for solo/ensemble, they performed the song “Homeward Bound”. Solo/ensemble has three levels: A, B, and C. A is the most challenging and highest level, and C is the least challenging lower level. Every performer in each level is given a score of 1 through 5, with 5 being the poorest and 1 being the best score you can receive. Their song, “Homeward Bound”, was chosen from group C, and they scored a 2 on it. The following year, last year, when Lacey was a junior and Preston a freshman, they performed the song “Watering Stranger”. They chose to move up a level and chose from the B section. They received a 1 for their score.
While both find performing a lot of fun, they also face many challenges. Lacey explained one challenge: “Definitely, finding the right songs and notes to become consistent with each other and comfortable.” Preston agreed with her answer, adding, “Figuring out times and when we can work together because we both have busy schedules.” They are both involved in a lot of extracurricular activities, including sports, clubs, dance, animals, and other activities outside of school. They both agree that they always find ways to overcome these challenges, regardless of how hard it is. “We overcome these challenges by making our friendship tighter and staying positive,” said Lacey. Preston added, “A lot of communication is how we overcome these challenges.”
They both also claimed that a lot of their help in overcoming these challenges and being able to perform at their best comes from their support systems. They both claimed to receive support from their families, who show up to watch them perform together and encourage them to continue. They also both receive support from the music directors for both band and choir. Both agree that each other is probably their biggest supporter and encourager, along with some other close friends who would help them to practice by listening and critiquing.
Upon talking to Lacey, she had added that her family, teachers, and friends support her by “telling me to keep going and show people I can accomplish more than they think.” She also added that she felt inspired by Mr. Ray, and that it is part of the reason she started wanting to perform more than just in the high school choir. Talking about how he inspires her, Lacey said, “He made me feel confident and made me want to have people hear my voice.”
Speaking with friends and teachers who support the two of them, they were described as “proactive”, “motivated”, “fantastic performers”, and more. People describe their relationship as an amazing bond of friendship where both feel comfortable with each other and receive emotional support from each other. Their instructors see how committed to music they are and how much they love to surround themselves with it both in and out of the classroom. The instructors are both very proud of both of them and how much they take on, including choir and band, honors band, musicals, and solo/ensemble. Preston is also committed to dance, while Lacey is also involved in the community band.
Mr. Morley describes their relationship by stating, “it is fun to watch them encourage each other, because sometimes teachers can encourage students as much as they can, but when you get that fellow encouragement from a peer, it might even motivate you more and they do sometimes argue like siblings would which is funny it's just a fun dynamic to watch happen.”
While both continue to love music and be as involved as they can, they haven't been able to practice much this year due to extracurricular activities so far, including the upcoming musical You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, in which both play key roles. The two plan on getting back into practicing more when the rest of their activities calm down, and both instructors are looking forward to them building that connection back up with each other and with music. While neither of them has a plan for continuing their musical career after high school at this time, but they are excited to perform for the third time in solo and ensemble.
They have not yet decided on a piece or category that they will be entering this year, but there is no doubt that they will enjoy their choice and have plenty of support from those around them. The bond between these two and their music is encouraging and fun for anyone who gets to experience it with them. As someone who has experienced them working together, it is like something I have never seen before, as it is rare to get to be involved with such an important part of someone's life. Mr. Ray and Mr. Morley, and all those who have been supporting these two from the start, are excited to see their work this school year.