Students Qualify for All-Region
Hard work pays off • Senior Aidan Shupak, sophomores Kylee Hunter, Emma Witt, junior Lizett Garcia, and sophomore Kyleigh Lewis stand together to celebrate their accomplishments. Photo by Xsavier Ortiz.
On Saturday, Oct. 8, Kilgore Orchestra students auditioned for the TMEA All-Region Orchestra. A total of six students qualified and earned a place in the orchestra.
Auditioning for the regional orchestra requires a lot of commitment. Because the music is professional level, students have to dedicate a lot of time towards practicing and preparing for auditions.
“There were some beautiful pieces of music and I wanted to learn to play them but it did seem a little intimidating,” junior Kayleigh Beets said. “To prepare for auditions, I took my instrument home, listened to the pieces, and practiced during class.”
Auditioning at high school level is also different from auditioning at middle school level. The competition tends to be more fierce because most people have experience from auditioning during middle school.
“I feel like auditioning will be harder considering there will be four different grades there,” freshman Daniel Muir said.
Students generally receive their music about a month in advance so that they have plenty of time to practice. They then get the cuts, the measures they have to play for the judges, about a week before auditions. However, this year, the students were given their cuts early, which were then further narrowed down as auditions got closer.
“This made me feel more confident because it gave me more time to practice the cuts,” junior Ever Sweet said.
Aside from getting their cuts early, the audition material was also changed. This year, the judges chose to remove the cuts from the All- State etudes that are normally used in auditions.
“I like the etudes being removed because you shouldn’t have to try out for All-Region like it is All-State,” senior Kenneth Exline said.
Students who made it into the regional orchestra will attend two clinics in order to prepare for the concert. They will go on Friday, Dec, 2 during the school day as well as on Saturday, Dec, 3. The All-Region Orchestra concert will take place at 4:00 p.m. on that same day.
“I am most looking forward to improving upon my skills, working with other directors, performing, and being able to look back and say that I accomplished that,” sophomore Kylee Hunter said.
Congratulations to the following students for qualifying for the regional orchestra: Lizett Garcia, violin; Kyleigh Lewis, violin; Axel Lira, viola; Emma Witt, viola; Kylee Hunter, viola; Aidan Shupak, bass.