On Saturday October 22nd, 66 students auditioned for All-State, the highest honor for a musician in Iowa. Out of a total of 25 band auditionees, 11 were accepted into the 285 person band with three alternates. Two were accepted into the orchestra, which is the highest honor for a band instrumentalist. Twelve out of the 21 students who auditioned for the orchestra were accepted, which takes about 200 students total. 12 students were accepted with four alternates. Out of the 20 students auditioning for  the choir, which accepts 600 singers, seven were accepted with one alternate.

Joey Schnoebelen ‘17 is the best of the best when it comes to playing the trumpet. He is a four-time All-Stater and has made it into the orchestra again this year.

“To be an All-State musician it takes a lot of practice and a lot of hard work,” Schnoebelen said. “A lot of it is cumulative, you can’t just prepare for the audition. Over the years it’s how much time you’ve put into your instrument. It’s really just a pat on the back saying ‘good job, keep up the good work.’”

After being one spot away from making the list last year, Audrey Friestad ‘18 was extremely excited and relieved to finally be accepted.

“It takes a lot of work, a lot of time, and a lot of effort,” Friestad said. “It means everything to me because I feel like I worked so hard last year to get too close.” This year, she has put in countless hours of practice as well as extra lessons and mock auditions.

“It’s a lot of going through excerpts, just going through things so many times that even if you’re really nervous, you can still do it.” Mia Thedens ‘18 said. “I think you just have to go in with the attitude that whatever is going to happen will happen because it’s really easy to get worked up and try to over-analyze everything that happens.”

Esme Rummelhart ‘17 especially enjoys the experience of playing with other musicians who are as dedicated as she is.

“You get to play really fun music and you get to meet a lot of new people from all around the state.” Rummelhart said.

Despite the amount of practice and dedication required, all students agree that once they are at All-State playing with the best musicians, the stress of the audition process was all worth it.

“The most rewarding part is meeting people there that share your same love for music,” Schnoebelen said. “and really All-State is just a fun time. I’ve really enjoyed it all three years I’ve made it and hopefully I can make it a fourth and keep meeting some good people.”

Accepted Students:

Band: Quinn Kopelman, Wade Carter, Cassie Birnbaum, Mina Takahashi, Patrick Weiss, Audrey Friestad, Rocio Stejskal, Rachel Strang, Rita Dang

Orchestra Band Members: Joseph Stoltz, Joey Schnoebelen

Alternates: Max Hostager, Kolbe Schnoebelen, Charles Mascardo

Orchestra: Esme Rummelhart, Annalise Rummelhart, Sasha Chapnick-Sorokin, Phoebe Chapnick-Sorokin, Maia Janssen, Oriana Ross, Nova Meurice, James Momberg, Michael Berg, Elise Heck, Emi Bergman-Corbet, Max Meyer

Alternates: Meirav Flatte, John Paul Rethwisch, Mia Thedens, Joseph Ellis

Piano: Levi Pugh

Choir: Addie Bass, Emma Myers-Verhage, Cassidy Slater-Scott, Danielle Tang, Kyle Irish-Gorvin, Jakob Roggy, Fred Oglvie

Alternates: Molly Liu