All-State Band

Murray NEB.- This year Conestoga participated in All-State Band which took place on March 19 at Kearney High School. In All-State Band, the students that were selected are placed in “Chairs”. The “chairs” show your level of skill, so the first chair is the best player and so on. Being accepted into All-State Band is a huge honor! Students record themselves playing a chromatic scale and a major scale of the adjudicators choosing. Then they have to prepare and perform two etudes, which are musical selections that focus on a certain skill such as articulations or accidentals. Students then send in these auditions and the judges listen to hundreds of tapes from students across Nebraska, and select the strongest performers.

A member of the Conestoga high school band Ella L., stated “Being selected to go to All-State was such an amazing honor. I learned so much when I was there and made so many new friends. Going to All-State made me a better musician, and it definitely showed when I came back to play. The clinician that was working with us was so amazing and made everything as comfortable as possible. It lasted the entire day, but it didn’t even seem that long because of how fun it was.”

In All-State Band the selected students drive out to Kearney the night before and stay in a hotel. Then, in the morning arrive at Kearney Highschool where they will be performing. They then rehearse with other accepted students. They also work with accomplished directors from across the country. In the evening, they then perform a concert for everyone. The students accepted into the wind-ensemble were Daniel C,. John M., and Drew F. Students accepted into the symphonic band were Ella L. and Keaghon C.