Band students across Region 24 participated in the band All-Region Phase 2 auditions on Dec. 6, hosted at Emerson. The final placements for the regional bands were determined in this second round of auditions, where 39 Mavericks were placed into one of the five bands and nine qualified for Area.
For the audition, students play 30 second cuts from three prepared etudes, which are pieces of music designed to improve a player’s technique, selected by the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) in July. Phase 1 at Rockhill High School was the first set of auditions, and students who placed high enough there advanced to Phase 2. Among the several students who participated, Bella Kong, 12, was one of the selected flutists who advanced to this second audition process.
“We go into the [audition] room [in] our assigned waves … basically our times. There’s three rounds, and for each round we play a different etude … and whatever cut they decide,” Kong said. “We have an assigned number, so we wait … to get called and perform. The judges are behind a curtain-type thing, so they don’t know who each player is. It’s more fair because they’re all band directors in this region.”
Phase 2 is a different environment compared to Phase 1 since all the participants have already advanced. The music cuts from the three etudes are a minute long and they’re usually more difficult.
“In Phase 2, to actually determine the really good players, they listen to us for a longer time,” Kong said. “It’s just a process for them to see who’s actually good enough to advance, and who’s at the highest level in the region.”
There are five regional bands that students can qualify for following the auditions: Wind Ensemble, Wind Symphony, Symphonic Band and Concert Bands 1 and 2. In January, musicians in those bands get together and rehearse music to prepare for the regional concerts.
“In these bands, students get to play together with other students on their same musical level,” Mariano Nakano, 11, said. “There are several pieces we get to play, and the directors are from different areas of expertise. It’s overall an incredible experience.”
Students in the very top places qualify for Area, either 6A or 5A depending on the classification of their school or the track they choose to compete in. Making Area is a prerequisite for auditioning for the TMEA All-State band, and Nakano was one of the clarinetists who qualified.
“We’re in Area B, which means that I compete with students from the other 4 regions,” Nakano said. “If I also do really good in that, I can participate in a band full of really talented musicians [at state] in San Antonio, so hopefully my practice will lead me up there.”
Overall, Emerson had extremely successful results at Phase 2. Make sure to congratulate the Mavericks who made a regional band!
