SWIBA Honor Band

SWIBA+Honor+Band

Chris Krogh

Atlantic High School students attended the SWIBA Honor Band auditions on Saturday, Dec. 10 at AHS.  The students auditioning were trying to get a spot on the SWIBA Honor Band to further expand their musical skills.  In fact, the AHS students were challenging the 458 different students from multiple schools.  But scratches were made and brought the total of students down to 375.  Even with the high number, eight AHS students made it into SWIBA.

During the audition, the auditionee plays the B Flat Concert Scale, the Chromatic Scale, and two other scales that are picked by the auditionee by choosing a card.  After they perform the scales, they play a short section of a slow song, then a short section of a fast song to see their flexibility in tempo and rhythm.

SWIBA Honor Band in high school consists of two categories; 9th through 10th grade and 11th through 12th grade.  The difficulty level is slightly higher during the junior and senior year from more experience, while freshmen and sophomores have an easier selection of music.  Seven out of eight students from AHS that made SWIBA were juniors and seniors.  With the Iowa State Honor Band coming soon, AHS students hope for their nominations presented by Jarred O’Donnell to be accepted.