Band is marching in a different direction starting Saturday as students put a pause on halftime jams and focus on All Region band auditions.

“All Region is a competition for students to compete against other students who play the same instrument,” sophomore Andrey Pridgen said via text. “Usually students audition for a panel of judges in a room full of other students, but this year that is not possible. Instead, we will be recording ourselves playing the music and submitting it online. We have a window of five days to record and submit a small 30 second section from three different pieces.”

This year’s audition process won’t differ from previous years except for the fact that students will be at home.

“As of right now there will not be a clinic and concert for the students who make All Region Band,” director of bands Jamie Weaver said. “The state has put a moratorium on clinics and concerts throughout the month of January, which is usually when our’s is. The region folks have been talking about perhaps doing one later in the spring, like May, but we don’t really know at this point.”

Sophomore Madison Gray believes that auditions will have both positives and negatives.

“Some positives are that this year, we can have as many takes of our etudes as we want so we can practice the cuts more,” Gray said via text. “However since this year’s auditions are recorded instead of live, some people might have issues with microphones and microphone quality. Personally I had to get an external microphone so that I can have the best chance of moving to the next phase.”