On Oct. 24 All-State auditions for band and choir were held here for the first time in 7 years. Out of all the band kids that tried out only a few made it and out of that few were Emily Yager, Sidney Gifford and Nadia Somers.

Emily Yager has tried out before, but didn’t make it until this year. “It feels really great to be in the band.” she said. Yager is one out of 70 clarinet players, 10 being from our district, to make it to All-State. Feeling confident about her audition, she said, “My audition went pretty well. I missed some small things because of nerves but overall it was a solid audition.”

Sidney Gifford has also made it for the first time this year. With not making the cut for the past two years, she was determined to play this year and made it one of her goals. She ended up being the only one to make it for alto clarinets because she was actually the only one who tried out for it. But, she still had to wait to see if she made it or not. “[I waited] about 20 minutes and that was the longest 20 minutes of my life,” said Gifford.

Nadia Somers tried out her freshman year and didn’t make it, but now she has made it as a sophomore and a junior. The feeling of making it is “satisfying” for her as she was one of the three french horns to make it, as well as one alternate. Now that auditions are over she is focusing on practicing her music. Since she was in All-State before, she didn’t feel like the experience was different from last year, “It was just kinda the same, just the recall [audition] was a new experience.”

So, what happens now that these girls have made it? All they must do now is practice for their songs and chair placements. If they don’t do well on the chair placements, then they will be sent home. ”If they mess up they could be sent home but I have never had that happen,” band instructor Jared O’Donnell said. The All-State concert will be held in Ames, Iowa at the Hilton Coliseum on Nov. 21 at 7 p.m.