Band: Striving for Perfection and Holding onto Traditions
By Kenzee Hampton
The Owasso High School Band holds high standards for their students as they strive to keep a 40-year old tradition. Every year the Owasso High School Band has the most students qualify for the All-State band out of any school in Oklahoma.
Chris Harris, one of the many band directors at the Owasso High School, states with a proud smile, “If you walk down our [band] hallway, you can see pictures of every student since the mid-70s who has made the All-State band.”
The first step before All-State, is All-Region, which for Owasso is the North-Central Region. In the North-Central All-Region, the more well known schools are Owasso, Jenks and Stillwater.
Last May, this year's current sophomores, juniors and seniors received the music they needed to prepare for their auditions for All-Region. In the audition, they play the music they have prepared, play scales and they sight-read. Sight-reading is where the students get to see a brand new sheet of music and they have 30 seconds to look at it without playing it. They then play it from the beginning and get scored on how well they read music on the first try.
All-Region is the first Saturday of November (11/6). The Owasso High School Band had 88 members qualified for the final round of All-State band selections, 10 of which qualified for more than one instrument. Now that All-Region has passed, the next step is All-State. All-Region has four months to prepare their music for their audition, whereas for All-State they only have four weeks to prepare for their audition. All-State auditions will be on Saturday, December 4th.
Preparing for this can be a hassle because Thanksgiving break is right in the middle of this time where the students need to be practicing.
Harris responds confidently, “We tell the students that two weeks away from state… they need to feel like they are ready… [and if the students] take a few days off they don’t lose much… So my job is to keep them ahead on the timeline… [This is also beneficial to help them] get really fine-tuned and play their very best when the pressure hits because everyone will feel the nerves. Still, the more prepared you are, the more the muscle memory will take over from our practice.”
“[The directors are] inspiring. They always push us to practice,” Senior Faith Hixson elaborates, “It inspired me to work more hard on my music.”
As the band moves forward, the directors will push their students to new limits and the members will strive to play their best. The directors have high standards, but they are more than achievable with the Owasso High School Band seeing as they have many determined, hard-working and talented members.
Harris has a love and a passion for Owasso High School Band and each of its members.
With this, he explains why he loves All-Region and All-state, “The stronger the individuals are, the better the band is as a whole… but this is where the individuals can shine on their own.”
Congratulations to the following students for making All-Region:
Michaela Blakestad
Abi Rasmussen
Britney Ovideo
Elizabeth Donnelly
Rebekah Holland
Emily Paul
Cj Droese
Carlon Buckels
Reagan Yost
Logan Blalack
Leyton McKinney
Fayth Stender
Hartlee Villines
Skyler Shahan
Samson Nguyen
Kayden Casteel
Natalie Griffin
Averie Crowe
Caver Sands
Chloe Reynolds
Ian Nicholls
Izabel Talley
Jacquelyn Fraire
Emily Powers
Alexa Diaz
Charles Wilson
Samantha Hebertson
Seth Anquoe
Jacob Stenstorm
John Hicks
Jacob Hill
Kira Morris
Aaron Henderson
Iliana Azpetia
Jonathan Bocanegra
Carson Pitts
Christopher Helm
Zerak Weems
Aidan Diaz
Breanna Hurd
Victoria Foreman
Katie Mansard
Connor Brown
Faith Hixson
Ethan Bass
Hunter Blakestad
Eli Hall
Hudson Martin
Daniel Fair
Sam Walker
Eva Aycock
Ray Bailey
Andrew Pulice
Riley Shepherd
Saul Pasquez
Jayson Grundy
Ben Jennings
Kade Jennings
Jack Parker
Seth Woods
Kc Hansford
Rylee Tillotson
Connor Meissner
Eli Zaragoza
Ethan Turner
Will McCoy
Tyler Moore
Jaden Meissner
Jack Bird
Andrew Thomas
Good luck at All-State!