Journey To All-State Music: Auditions Challenge Musicians

For choir and band students, the time to show off their skills arrives early in the school year for All-State Music auditions. The process of reaching auditions starts even earlier, when the music is released. Junior Eleanor Kolterman started preparing for her choir audition during the summer.

“For the most part you learn all the music on your own and there’s several pieces, probably six or seven full pieces of music, and they can be in various different languages. This year we had English, Hebrew, Latin and German,” Kolterman said. Pronunciation matters, and vocalists must be able to master these songs if they want to earn a place at All-State.

This was Kolterman’s second audition. “I did audition last year, but I did not make it. I think it was better and I liked the way my recordings went this year. I also liked the workshop which I think helped, and I liked the languages better,” Kolterman said. The workshop was hosted at the University of Nebraska Omaha, where both prospective All-State choir and band students gathered to gain insight before their auditions.

All-State Band occurs at the same time. Students who audition receive excerpts from songs originating from all over the world, along with études and scales. Études are short, tricky compositions to demonstrate musical talent, and scales are a series of notes in order of their pitch. Senior Elizabeth Buescher prepared all summer for her audition by practicing the released études and scales.

Only the études and scales for All-State Band auditions were released during summertime. “At the beginning of the school year, we got the excerpts, which are the literal pieces of the music played All-State. This year for flute it was from this song called El Camino Real,” Buescher said.

This was not Buescher’s first time auditioning for All-State. As a freshman, she auditioned but was not accepted. She tried again sophomore year and received the alternate flute position, but she was never called in as a substitute. Finally, in her junior year she was chosen as flute II and sat in the second row as she experienced All-State for the first time. Now, as a senior, Buescher auditioned for the last time.

“I’ve realized through high school that age does not give you an advantage. There will always be some magic freshman that will be the best player ever and the best competitor ever…I don’t want to assume I can get in,” Buescher said.

On Monday, Oct. 21, Kolterman, Buescher, and senior Dominika Kouassi received notice that they were selected for All-State. Buescher was accepted as flute I and piccolo. Kolterman and Kouassi made soprano II for choir, or the lower octave in the highest vocal section. 

“I’m really excited to be going to All-State. I just want to be able to learn all the music and do it well. I’m excited to see what the whole process is like being there with all the other students,” Kolterman said. This is her first time attending All-State. All-State started on Wednesday, Nov. 20 and ended on Friday, Nov. 22.

Reflecting back on her last All-State experience, Buescher discovered her favorite memory from All-State was the feeling of accomplishment she felt after putting in a lot of time and effort. “The best part of All-State was practicing the music in the school of music right before the chair placement auditions. I had been nervous about the chair placement because I wasn’t getting through the music easily, but I’d been working hard enough that I could get through all of the toughest parts of the song and I felt so proud of that,” Buescher said.

For Kolterman, the competition aspect of All-State was over once she was selected, and the experience was about making music together. “I think the best part was getting to perform the music with really talented people and an amazing director,” Kolterman said.

“I’m so happy I was able to get into All-State as a senior after getting in last year. And getting in on piccolo this year was not something I expected—I had noticeable overtones in my audition and had always assumed some piccolo from a huge school with a marching band would get the part,” Buescher said. She expected herself to be selected for flute again, but piccolo was a wonderful surprise. Buescher looks forward to future improvements and successes with flute and piccolo this year.