All-Region Orchestra Tryouts
By Gilles Bonneau
On Saturday, October 11, like several hundred string students from the Austin and Eanes school districts, 12 GSA middle school students went to McCallum High School to try out for All-Region Orchestra. For six weeks they had been working on their audition music, a set of challenging repertoire excerpts for violin, viola, and cello. They had practiced playing in front of each other and taking professional-style blind auditions where the jury is hidden behind a screen.
When the big day came all this preparation proved valuable, as the reality of a high-level audition can be grueling. As Sharon Zeugin put it, "No matter what we all say, or how we try to downplay it, competing is stressful." When the cellists came out of the contest room after a four-hour audition, they were in no mood to disagree. The results of the audition were announced the following day, and seven GSA students will play in the All-Region orchestras, one in Symphony Orchestra (full orchestra) and six in Philharmonic Orchestra (strings only):
- Ariana, 8th Grade, cello: 11th chair, Symphony
- Gabriela, 8th Grade, violin: 3rd chair, Philharmonic
- Isabel, 7th Grade, viola: 6th chair, Philharmonic
- Maeve, 8th Grade, cello: 7th chair, Philharmonic
- Rowan, 7th Grade, viola: 1st chair, Philharmonic
- Samantha, 8th Grade, viola: 8th chair, Philharmonic
- Tillie, 7th Grade, cello: 10th chair, Philharmonic
Congratulations to everyone who auditioned. Having one third of our 6th, 7th, and 8th grade strings students in All-Region Orchestra is truly unbelievable. Beyond the results, I am proud of everyone's efforts as they gained valuable experience and improved their level of playing.
The All-Region Orchestra concert will take place on Saturday, November 22 at 4:00 p.m. at Pflugerville High School.