The two will be joining more than 100 local vocalists at the High School Winter Concert on Monday at 7 p.m.

Meissner and Waters said going to the All State conference was a big deal for both of them.

“It was everything that I was hoping for,” Meissner said.

Everyone there was performing at a high-level and had meticulously rehearsed their parts, Waters said.

SLHS Choral Director Drew Benware said the two were “model citizens” and “top-notch” at the conference, the highest musical honor in the state for high school singers.

To be accepted, they performed a solo piece of music in front of judges at a festival in May. They were judged on a score out of 100. To even be considered, singers need to score a 99 or 100.

Being around people with a “music-shaped mindset” was amazing, Meissner said.

Waters said seeing everyone with the same “burning passion for music” he and Meissner have pushed him to do even better.

Benware said, sometimes, students who go to the conference can come back demoralized, seeing how big the other schools’ choirs are. He said Meissner and Waters came back and used the experience to elevate their peers.

Jack Waters and Ebin Meissner, both Saranac Lake High School seniors, sang at the New York All State music conference last weekend. (Provided photo — Drew Benware)

Meissner and Waters said they performed all very difficult, high-level pieces.

Waters said “A Song of Life” starts as a steady march. Then, in the middle, every single person breaks off and does their own part.

“Then it leaps back into the march-y, staccato, joyous piece, which is my favorite part about that song,” Waters said.

They had to learn German for “Der Gang zum Liebchen.” Waters had never spoken German before Meissner has taken some German on Duolingo, but said he’s “no expert.”

Waters especially loved “Morning.”

“(It’s) a sweet, sensitive” song about the sun coming up and no matter what goes on in the last day, the last night or the last week, the sun will always rise and you’ll always be greeted by a beautiful morning,” he said.

When the group first sang it together, after practicing it for months, he got choked up and started tearing up because of how sweet, supple and beautiful it was. That was a memory he’ll hold onto for a long time, he said.

“I get butterflies. I get goosebumps,” Waters said. “There’s no feeling quite like it.”

It can make him feel happy, sad and a whole range of emotions in a short span of time.

“Everyone was so unified,” Meissner said.

“I love singing with a bunch of people,” he added. “It feels good, after working for months on a piece, to perform it and really nail it.”

For him, that’s what music is all about — collaboration.

“Music without people kind of defeats the purpose, to me,” he said.

Benware often tells the students about a study where scientists monitored the heartbeats of people singing in a choir and all their heartbeats synced up. Waters said it shows how interconnected music makes people.

Connection with strangers is something that is needed today, Waters said.

At the conference, they met people from all over the state who they’re still in touch with.

Meissner was excited to join chorus in his freshman year. He had sang a bit in middle school and enjoyed band. But he also wanted to try something new. He grew up watching the high school choir performing and wanted to be part of that group.

“Mr. Benware’s a pretty good recruiter,” he said with a grin.

Meissner even rearranged his schedule to free up that period so he could be part of the ensemble.

Waters said he’s been singing his whole life. It’s his favorite pastime. His dad, Paprika Joe, has been singing since he was 15. There’s always music in his house, Waters said, and he loves playing bass or guitar with his father.

But he was never super-serious about singing until he met Benware in freshman year.

Waters said he started out rough and “tone-deaf.”

“I couldn’t really sing, like, at all. But looking back and seeing my progression over the last few years, I’m a little blown away,” Waters said.

He said it was a lack of confidence. He wasn’t supporting himself — mentally and physically — and his voice would fall flat.

Singing takes a lot of mental work, as well as physical — everything from posture to confidence can affect the voice.

Waters said it might not seem like singing takes a lot of practice, but anyone who performs regularly says they sing every single day.

A high-point of the conference for Meissner was honing and fine-tuning their sound in the days before the performance. He said their conductor, Brandon Boyd drilled down on consonance and vowels. Meissner said Boyd told them about initial consonance, interior consonance and exterior consonance.

This involves breaking a word like “scale” down into its consonant components — “s,” “k” and “l” — and repeatedly practicing each part down to make them each “poignant.”

This was Benware’s fourth and final year as the state choral chair. He said he’s enjoyed organizing this annual conference, but he’ll be glad to sit back and enjoy it next year.

Benware said Saranac Lake Central School District has the largest music department in Clinton, Essex and Franklin counties, even though it is “far from the largest school.” The music program here is strong, he said.

Meissner plans to major in music education at either the Ithaca College School of Music, the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam, SUNY Fredonia or SUNY New Paltz. His auditions start next month.

Waters said he’s planning to major in business, but he’s making sure any college he applies to has a music program.

On Monday, the winter concert will be held at 7 p.m. at the high school auditorium. Tickets are free. Performances will include the high school vocal ensembles, jazz band and concert choir.

Waters said the ensembles will sing a mix of “sweet ballads and powerful songs.”

“Plaudite” is in Latin; “Hush! Somebody Callin’ My Name” is a gospel tune and “Hashivenu” is based on ancient Hebrew texts, which is fitting, since the eight-day Hanukkah celebration began on Sunday evening.

Waters said “Winter Wind” is a “sweeping, blowing” piece that picks up into a powerful blasting and then fades away, a North Country winter feeling he’s been describing to the downstate friends he met at the conference.