It’s an Honor to Play in this Band

The University of Arizona Outreach Honor Band is for advanced middle school and ninth-grade students. In the band, there are UofA students who are section leaders. These leaders help their sections (trumpets, clarinets, flutes, etc.) learn the music so they can be prepared for the concert.

I joined the Honor Band playing trumpet almost three months ago. I was very nervous for the audition because I had never auditioned for something so important. I had to play three scales chosen by the judge, one Chromatic scale and a song I chose. A couple of days later, the director of the band would email to let you know if you got in or not. I was excited when I heard that I got in.

On the first day of practice, I was very nervous since I had only played trumpet for about a year. There were seven trumpet players and about 50 people all together in the band. 

We practice once a week on Saturdays. Rehearsal starts at 8:30 a.m. We start by playing a choral and some scales. After the warm-up, we are sent to sectionals where we practice parts of our music that need to be worked on. After sectionals, the whole band meets in the rehearsal room, and we practice all of the music as a whole band. This is my favorite part—hearing all of the music come together is amazing.

At the end of the semester, there is a big concert in Crowder Hall at the UofA. I wasn’t nervous then. I was very excited. The stage was big and the lights were big.

I love performing, and I was sad when the concert was over. I wanted to do it again. I will audition for Honor Band again on Feb. 10. I will be scoring higher in my chair position for trumpet. I am excited for the audition!

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