All-State Auditions to be Held In Person

Tanatswa Chivero, Co-Editor in Chief|October 9, 2020

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Clair Bonnet

The all state choir will not be able to perform live at UNL.

In the music department at Westside, All-State auditions are an exciting event students get to take part in every year, but due to COVID-19 halting most activities, students were not able to participate in the final performance with other students from across the state. Band instructor Thomas Krueger explained how the auditions normally run. 

“There are three different instrumental groups you can audition for: the concert band, the orchestra and the jazz band,” Krueger said. “[Students] sign up for an audition time, they prepare some music ahead of time, usually a couple of etudes and an excerpt from the music and some scales, and then they come in and they get one time to record it live in front of us. So, we hit the record button so whatever they record during that take gets sent off right away, so it’s a one-time shot, much like a real in-person audition.”

Krueger said he feels that the auditions are one of the few things that have stayed the same during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is one of the things that is very similar actually. It kind of feels like normal because we’re doing it exactly the same way,” Krueger said. “I have the computer software and the website and we just record it just like we normally would.” 

Similar to Krueger, vocal music instructor Doran Johnson said the process of auditioning hasn’t changed much, yet the excitement of auditioning may not be there anymore. 

“UNL said no [to having the choir perform on campus], so they decided that they still wanted to give kids the opportunity to audition and be chosen, and then they’ll create a virtual choir out of them,” Johnson said. “So this year they only have to learn one song, and then do the scales and arpeggios.o the number of songs has been reduced, but they’re singing more of that song.”

Johnson said not having an in person choir may decrease student motivation to audition and do well.

“I think they made the change that needed to be changed,” Johnson said. “It’s just harder to get excited about it when the end goal is not assembling and singing together. That’s the struggle.”