After taking a year off due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the OMEA (Ohio Music Education Association) all-state band, choir and orchestra will be meeting in person February 2 through February 5 in Cleveland. These music ensembles are composed of the most skilled high school musicians across the state.
The musicians who choose to audition are sent an excerpt of audition music that they must submit a recording of to judges who will choose the top musicians to perform at this level.
This year, Hayes has 3 participating musicians. Senior Madison Bricker will be playing the trumpet in the band, junior Melanie Owen will be playing violin in the orchestra and senior Daniel Owen will be playing the cello in the orchestra.
Before the event, the accepted musicians receive the music they will be playing at the event to start preparing.
“They gave us the music like two weeks ago,” Bricker said. “So I’m practicing it every night or every other night.”
The preparation for chair auditions ends when the musicians arrive at the event. Nerves often accompany the arrival.
“When we go to all-state, we have seating auditions right away so I am nervous and also because there’s going to be lots of other people, and I’m going to be one of the upperclassmen there,” Melanie said.
The musicians are also nervous about making mistakes due to the large amount of time they will be spending practicing the music.
“We have over 12 hours of rehearsals in between the three days so the chance of me messing up is very high,” Bricker said. “So I feel like I’m gonna make a dumb mistake.”
Melanie participated in all-state in 2020 when she was a freshman, so she has some experience already.
“My favorite memory is being able to see other talented musicians from around the state and being able to perform together,” she said.
Despite the nerves, the musicians are excited for this opportunity.
“I’m looking forward to…getting to participate with people that are at the same level as me and very dedicated,” Bricker said.
Melanie is excited for the event as well. “I’m really looking forward to playing the music and meeting some of the musicians,” she said. “I know some of them because I met them freshman year.”
Overall, the musicians have some nerves, but are overwhelmingly grateful and excited for this opportunity to perform at a high level.