It’s UIL season for band and to help get ready for their contest in April, they are performing a Pre-UIL concert Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the auditorium. 

“Pre-UIL [concert] is highly beneficial to students as it gives them a trial run for actual UIL,” assistant band director Cecily Yoakam said. “We get an opportunity to walk through the process and prepare ourselves for what to expect.”

Senior flute player Amanda Meng can testify to the accuracy of Yoakam’s assessment as she gets ready for the fourth and final such concert of her high school career. 

“Pre-UIL is always beneficial because the experience replicates what real UIL is like, and is like a mock audition,” Meng said. “For me, it helped prep that pressured/nervous environment that UIL would actually create.”

With two weeks before the UIL competition begins on April 12, there’s still time for the musicians to rehearse. 

“I feel relatively prepared for the concert, but of course I still need to practice a lot,” Meng said. “One of the pieces chosen for this year is incredibly fast at some parts and it’s difficult to move between the sixteenth note runs while finding places to breathe.”

The concert is designed to help prepare for the real UIL contest with an audience that will take the place of judges.

“I believe it can make us less nervous for the day of,” freshman Regina Castro said. “It will make us more confident when UIL comes.”