by Malachi Wickman

On Saturday, Oct. 22, 27 Atlantic High School students will travel to Harlan to audition for All State.

There are three band students auditioning.  Shelby Cooper is auditioning on the clarinet, Tom Stinn is auditioning on the tuba, and Tiffany Brauckman is auditioning on the flute.

To audition for band the students must prepare a selection of a solo, two etudes, and all major scales. They audition alone; they pick a scale to play, then play two random scales, and finish with the chromatic scale.

Musicians can be recalled for band.  If they are recalled they play a section of an etude, and a scale of the judge’s choice.

AHS band director, Jarrod Odonnell, comments, “All three [auditioning] have been working pretty well, if they can calm their nerves they will all have a chance.  You can never tell if they’ll make it out right; it just depends on what they do and what the judges want to hear.”

Junior Tom Stinn comments, “I am trying to stay positive, even if I don’t make it I know all the practice that goes into it will make me a better musician.”

There are 24 choir students auditioning: Alyssa Askland, Danielle Lambert, Robert Nichols, Shelby McKinley, Cassie Hallman, Logan Hemphill, Jake Auerbach, Mikayla Sommers, Halee Glenn, Josh Schorle, Justin Sommers, Nora Walker, Savannah Hoye, Preston Hoye, Anthony Robinson, Hannah Jespersen, Shelby Worth, Ben Parker, Eric Renner, Alison Krogman, Caroline Trewet, Kristin Jonk, Emily Jacobsen, Reid Nichols.

The choir students are meeting at choir director, Luke Johnson’s house at 5:30 am on Saturday for breakfast.  They will then drive up to Harlan.  The auditions begin at 9.

For the choir audition, the students audition in groups. The maximum number for a group is four.  During the initial audition the students sing selections from different songs they have prepared. The Judges look for four different areas; tonal quality, intonation, rhythm, and musicianship.

After the initial audition students find out if they were recalled.  There are many different reasons a student could be recalled; Johnson comments, “We look at [recall auditions] as a positive thing because it is a second chance to make it.” He also comments, “It is a really good learning experience.”