There comes a time in every person’s life when they get the opportunity to show off what they’ve learned – to present the result of hours of grueling hard work and hope with every fiber of their being that everything goes well.

  For some particularly driven band and orchestra students, District 7 audition day marked that time.

  Band director Christian Poole, who doubled as a judge for the competitive auditions on December 5, describes the festival as a different kind of selective ensemble.

  “Districts…is the…local first step into the Pennsylvania Music Educator’s Association..year-long plan [for] students to move from playing in their multi-county honor groups to making it through region honor groups to…finally making it to all-state,” said Poole. “For band…we have a lower band and an upper band…because [in our] region…we have so many different students that are interested and capable of playing in this kind of group they have to actually have two bands.”

  Junior clarinetist AnnMarie Falzone, who placed 19th out of 24 accepted musicians  narrowed down from a pool of 60, recounts the eventful day step-by-step.

  “Everyone goes into the auditorium of…Dallastown High School, and then you get about two hours to warm up and practice…then each instrument is assigned to…three rooms throughout a hallway,” said Falzone. “Basically, just everyone lines up and…one by one you go into the first room and play the three scales that they ask for, and you go into the second room and play the first excerpt from the piece, then you play the second excerpt in the last room, and it’s all blind auditions.”

  According to sophomore cellist Jake Hebel, the few minutes of playing require months of intense preparation.

 “I think I started practicing [the scales and excerpts] in June, and different people take different amounts of time,” Hebel said. “You have to just practice for a long time.”

  Despite this dedication to every aspect of the audition, any student, like Falzone, could still find something to be tense about when it came to the day itself.

  “I was most nervous about scales because they had to be completely memorized,” Falzone said. “That took a lot of practice for me to be able to play them without looking and [to know] all 12.”

  This drive to be the best that the student can be is what sets Districts apart, as stated by Poole.

  “It motivates them to play a piece of music at a high level,” said Poole. “Just to audition for the group is really great..if you happen to be fortunate [enough] to be selected to be in the group, then you get to…learn a set of pieces for the concert, work with a guest conductor, play with students of a similar ability to you in neighboring counties, and then follow that along to Regionals and All-State…[you] just get a chance to play with some amazing students and amazing directors.”

  Seniors Reed McGarvey, Amy Whitesell, and Kristen Zak; junior Julien Sherman; and sophomores Lucas Sherman and Emma Steinauer all made it through this round of auditions, with both Sherman brothers partaking in District Band and District Orchestra.

  For those who secured a chair, the next stop on the journey is their respective concerts, an experience Hebel says will be nothing like other ensembles he’s partaken in.

  “Districts is harder than anything else I’ve done, and there’s a lot more music to prepare [in] not very much time,” said Hebel. “There’s only one practice…it’s just a day, whereas [in] Youth Symphony, we have several weeks, or in school we’re in there every day…this is just one day. You’re supposed to know your music.”

  For those who weren’t happy with their performance at the audition, Poole has a poignant piece of advice.

  “Enjoy the process,” Poole said. “I don’t lead the students to think that they’re gonna get in, it’s more or less…’This is what we’re gonna do: we’re gonna play this piece of music, or we’re gonna play this really well, and if you happen to get in that’s great, but if not, it’s about the experience that you get along the way.’ It’s kind of cliche, but…I like the statement…’It’s the process, not the product.’”

  Truer words have not been spoken, especially in the intensely competitive world of music, where the District 7 participants will need to gather yet again in January on their concert days to audition for the more selective Regional festivals. For these students, the cycle of practice never ends.