Audition information is being distributed to our 6th and 7th graders this week, pertaining to next year’s ensembles! As this year starts to wind down, we have lots of planning to do to get organized for an AWESOME start to next year!
All current 6th and 7th graders will perform the same audition material for the directors during the week of May 22nd in class. This will act as a test grade, in addition to helping us determine each student’s placement in our three performing ensembles for next year. Our goal, as directors, is to place each student in the ensemble that will both challenge and encourage our students. It’s a delicate balance of instrumentation for each group, as well as making sure each student is not overwhelmed by the difficulty of the music, but has a chance to learn and grow as musicians throughout the course of the next school year. We take a lot of time and effort to balance these groups so that they can all continue to be successful!
The main difference amongst our three 7th and 8th grade performing ensembles (Concert Band, Symphonic Band, and Wind Symphony) is the difficulty of the music we work on. The groups do most of the same activities throughout the year. All three of our 7/8th grade ensembles made tremendous progress this year, and all three earned a Sweepstakes Award at UIL Concert and Sight reading Contest. They all offer a great musical experience to students! Click HERE to view a list of each of the bands’ activities. (I hope to have a basic calendar of performances for next year available before the end of this school year.)
Audition format:
Wind Players (woodwind/brass) will all be given three minutes to play as many of their scales as they can. Order of scales, tempo, number of octaves, etc. is at the discretion of each player. Credit will be given for what is performed. At the end of three minutes the director will call “time” and we will move on to the prepared audition etude, followed by a short sight reading excerpt.
Percussionists will prepare a short excerpt on both mallets and snare drum. We will ask to hear several scales as well. Percussion students will also perform a short sight reading etude on both instruments.
All students will be graded on tone, rhythm and note accuracy, and technique.
Audition results will be posted in the Band Hall the last week of school.
If students have further questions, they are welcome to ask/email a director for clarification. We are discussing this process in class a length.