All four bands are competing in the UIL Concert & Sight Reading Contest at Centennial High School on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

In the contest bands are judged on a rehearsed concert program and a sight reading portion involving playing new music on the spot.

“I think UIL is a really good friendly competition to have with other high schools as we compete against ourselves to improve on our skills and master our music pieces,” sophomore Alexandra Stiles said. “It is satisfying to see the end product especially after putting so much effort into rehearsing.”

For associate band director Zachary Anderson, the process of preparing for UIL began in January and involved weekly assignments for students.

“My expectation every year stays the same that the students do their best and they trust themselves as musicians we’ve all achieved mastery,” Anderson said. “It’s all based on the individuals performance my expectation is that they have a great performance. I’m super excited because we’re playing some difficult pieces but we’ve been preparing since winter concert.”

For the remainder of the year with UIL being over will allow students to pursue more pop-culture type of music and the fun relaxing aspects of band.

“Our music this year is pretty challenging and to see it grow so much is rewarding,” sophomore Anastasiya Liaskouskaya said. “I’m glad that UIL is soon because then everything starts to calm down in band and we get to play some more chill and fun music for our upcoming concert.”