January 27, 2015—Over the weekend of January 16-17, the Oregon Music Education Association sponsored the Oregon All-State Conference in beautiful Eugene, Oregon. Along with various other venues, the UO SOMD was pleased to offer its facilities to welcome the hundreds of high school and middle school participants.

We were so pleased, in fact, that we invited All-State students in the UO’s Frohnmayer Music Building to tag their photos with #oregonallstate for a chance to win an Oregon Ducks backpack.

Our talented winner is Leah Coyle, a junior at Parkrose High School in Portland. 

“I have been in choir since freshman year and plan to continue on throughout college,” explains Leah. “University of Oregon is a college I am highly considering going to in 2016, and All-State only made me want to go there more.”

Leah’s fun, contest-winning photo set—embedded below and set to Pentatonix’s Daft Punk medley—includes memories of friends preparing for their All-State performing engagements, as well as a few candid photos.

Submissions for the contest ran the gamut, and can be viewed by searching for #oregonallstate on Instagram or on Twitter. More than a few of the photos included a special guest: our friend the Duck stopped by to greet the incoming All-Staters.

As for her future as an All-State participant, Leah seems enthusiastic, noting, “This year was my first year going to All-State and I made so many amazing new friends that I hope to see at All-State next year too!”