A standing ovation is in order for six Beaver Area band students who auditioned for Honors Band November 15 at Westminster College.

These students are sophomores Josh Dahma and Lincoln Christensen, juniors Jon Baker, Anthony Tabone, and Graham Lovra, and senior Tim Mateer. Of these musicians, Dahma, Mateer, and Tabone qualified.

“I am very excited, I’m a little nervous, because it’s hard music, but I’m very excited to be there with other bassoonists,” said Tabone.

For the audition these students were all given a long and difficult piece at the end of last school year to practice and were required to play a random excerpt for a panel of judges. To remain impartial, the judges were facing away from the students as they played.

The students who qualified are ecstatic, but the audition process was also a valuable experience for those who did not qualify for the festival.

“It was cool to see other musicians outside of school and it was fun to practice such entertaining music,” said Christensen.

The Honors Band festival will be at Westminster College December 8–10. The trip will be chaperoned by Mr. James Scanga, Beaver Area’s elementary, middle, and high school band director.

"I am proud of our six high school band students who participated in the Honors Band audition in November. This is a challenging process that involves preparing a difficult piece of solo music and performing it in front of a panel of judges,” Mr. Scanga shared.

“These students should be commended for their extra effort. I am proud of Josh, Tim, and Anthony for qualifying for the festival in December—they will have a great experience!"

Good luck to those participating in Honors Band!