While football and soccer teams are facing state championships and play- off games, the musicians of the school are anxiously preparing for their own selective competition. The All District ensembles for choir, band and orchestra are prestigious ensembles that only the most talented students get a chance to be a part of.
“Every year these groups are just out- standing,” Director of Bands Avila Bear said. “They’re the best of the best and this is kind of a big day in the band world.”
Seven talented students from Blue Valley Southwest band and choir were accepted into these ensembles.
“I spent a good two months just preparing the audition piece with my teacher,” junior band student Andrew Fowler said.
The auditions typically each have around one thousand students audition- ing from 25 different schools, only around 80 choir students are chosen and over two
hundred band students are chosen to fill three different bands. The concerts are separate, but the audition process is still the same for both groups.
“You get three pieces of music that you have to work on independently,” junior choir student Alyssa Scharnhorst said. “When you get to the audition, the judges pick 15 measures you have to perform. You don’t know the measures until you get there, and there’s also a sight reading.”
For band, the students find out if they have been accepted after a few hours at the audition building, but choir students have to anxiously wait until the next day to see the list posted online.
Although getting into these groups can take months of practicing and preparing, being a part of the group only lasts for about a day. The musicians get their music to work on independently once they’ve been accepted, and will not meet again until the day of the concert.
“It’s just one eight-hour rehearsal to learn the three pieces of music,” Scharn- horst said. “We get together, and then have the concert.”
Kansas Music Educators Association (KMEA) holds district band, choir and orchestra to give students a chance to improve their musical abilities. It also provides opportunities for those planning on continuing in music past high school.
“It’s a stepping stone for students who are highly qualified to get some scholarships and recognition for what they do,” Bear said. “KSHSAA provides those opportunities to athletes, and KMEA provides them to musicians.”
Both performances were on Dec. 4 at Baldwin High School.
Acceptance into the All-District band and choir is a learning experience for students who want to expand their abilities. It provides students a chance to work with a new group of musicians, and exposes them to talents outside of their own school.
“It’s fun, you do a lot of work, and you’re nervous and everything, but it’s still fun,” Fowler said. “I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot and improved a bunch, and I’m getting the chance to work with some really great musicians.”