Students in the band program will audition for one of the TMEA 5A or 6A All-State bands throughout the day at Coppell High School on Saturday after advancing past region auditions.

The students went to region auditions in early December and the top ten percent of each of those audition rooms got earmarked to go onto area, and the top percent of each of those rooms will advance onto state.

“We have 16 kids auditioning this weekend, up from 15 last year,” head band director Jamie Weaver said. “We’re super excited. We already have three kids who are playing for the All-State jazz band and potentially 16 more all-staters would be spectacular.”

The group of aspirees consists of all-state veterans and first-timers. For junior trombonist Josh Lee, preparing for area for the first time doesn’t mean he’s coming into Saturday unprepared.

“Ever since we got our music for all-region, I’ve been practicing whenever I’ve had time,” Lee said. “I would come before school, during advisory, and sometimes after school to practice the region music. During the [Thanksgiving and Winter] breaks I would practice a lot just to make sure that I wasn’t getting worse, and since all-region auditions I’ve been practicing every day after school.”

Successfully qualifying for an all-state band would cause a host of emotions for the students.

“All-State is important to me because it shows that I’ve gotten better since I’ve started playing my instrument,” Lee said. “It’s been a goal of mine and it would be sort of like a milestone for me.”

The following students will be auditioning Saturday for one of the 5A or 6A All State bands:

5A:  

Edward Chen  –  Alto Saxophone  1 Wind Ensemble

Shane Bugni  –  Baritone Saxophone  1 Wind Ensemble

Joshua Lee  – Bass Trombone  1 Wind Ensemble

Mark Shi  –  Bb Clarinet  1 Wind Ensemble

Marshall Mixon  –  Oboe  1 Wind Ensemble

Caitlyn Hazzard  –  Tenor Trombone  1 Wind Ensemble

Jisu Kang  –  Bb Clarinet  2 Wind Ensemble

Aniket Matharasi  – Oboe  2 Wind Ensemble

6A:

Daniel Yang  –  Bass Clarinet  1 Wind Ensemble

Richard Huang  –  Oboe  2 Wind Ensemble

Sara Jeong  – Flute  3 Wind Ensemble

Charles Yang   – Bb Clarinet  4 Wind Ensemble

Kennedy Williams  –  Percussion  4 Wind Ensemble

Andres Borja –Prieto  – F Horn  5 Wind Ensemble

Arihant Bohara   – Percussion  6 Wind Ensemble

Cameron Wolfe  –  F Horn  2 Symphonic Band