Ready to spend five months preparing a piece of music—only to play it for 30 seconds? Well, Honors Band is the place for you!
November 7, Slippery Rock University was the place to be for high school students who love music. Grades nine through 12 competed for spots in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) District 5 honors band.
Beaver Area was represented by sophomore Mary Berenbrok (flute), juniors Lincoln Christensen (clarinet), Josh Dahma (tuba), Brady Young (baritone saxophone), and seniors Jon Baker (trumpet), Anthony Tabone (bassoon), and Cailin Downer (piccolo).
Let’s take a journey through the day with these above and beyond musicians.
Leaving the school at 10:30 a.m. in a school van with director Mr. J.P. Scanga, the Bobcat musicians arrived at Slippery Rock along with other area schools’ musicians in a large auditorium space.
Students were split into instrument groups, sent into a holding room, and given audition numbers. Students are assigned a number to keep the audition process anonymous.
An adult, referred to as a “sergeant at arms,” is essentially your room proctor. Students are not allowed to speak directly to judges, as they may very well be your band director! The sergeant instructs students on which sections of the songs to perform during their audition.
Judges select two passages: one lyrical section and another difficult and technical section. A halfway point is given during these sections in case the musician needs to restart their music for any reason.
As if their nerves weren’t stressed enough, students receive a sight reading piece, getting just 30 seconds to look at the music and give it their best shot.
These auditions take just five minutes per student, but students stuck in the initial holding room could be there for close to three hours, depending on how many students play the same instrument.
Berenbrok shared, “There were 24 flutes auditioning, who went out in groups of eight, where each group took an hour.”
The waiting is always the hardest part, as students are forbidden to have any electronics or play their instruments to practice.
The judges, normally band teachers or directors from schools in the region, score the auditions on a variety of criteria. Tone quality, tempo, rhythmic accuracy, and expression are just a few of the categories students must score in.
Months and countless hours of practice come down to this short, 5 minute demonstration of the musician’s skills.
Dahma, also the drum major of the Bobcat Marching Band, said, “For me personally, I’ve been preparing my solo since the beginning of September and practiced it every week after school with Mr. Scanga.
Dahma’s hard work paid off as he made the fourth chair out of eight tubas.
Dahma was joined by Tabone (bassoon) as the two students from Beaver Area to advance to the Honors Band. Congrats!
But after the intensity of the experience, musicians get to socialize with one another later in the day.
Berenbrok recalled that “Josh and I were the first ones done with our audition, and we decided to leave the part of campus where the auditions were held to try and find a Starbucks, along with Brady and Jon. After Cailin and Lincoln were finished with their auditions, we all went to eat dinner together and I really enjoyed spending time with all of them.”
Unfortunately for Berenbrok, a major roadblock came up very close to the audition date.
“I originally prepared a solo on the piccolo, but it broke and needed to be repaired. I wouldn’t be able to get it back in time for the audition. So that left me with about two weeks to learn the flute solo which was a lot harder! It all worked out in the end, and the whole day was a lot of fun!”
Band Director, Mr. J.P. Scanga shared his thoughts: “I am proud of our students who participated in the Honors Band audition this year! This is a highly competitive process, and it takes a good deal of confidence and bravery to be willing to play an instrument alone for a panel of judges. Our students who undertake this project every year, even if they do not qualify for the Honors Band, gain new music reading and performance skills as a result of studying their college-level solo piece. They also get to experience what it is like to perform in a 'pressure situation' which can help them later in life for job interviews or presentations.”