Music, excitement, and nerves are going to be filling the halls of the fine arts area on campus as orchestra’s UIL concert and sight-reading evaluation is Tuesday and Wednesday.

“UIL is similar to the STAAR exam for regular subjects such as maths, english, and sciences,” sophomore Sophia Essa said. “It’s an evaluation of an orchestra’s performance, which uses the PML (Prescribed Music List) for providing orchestras with approved music.” 

To help prepare, students took part in a pre-UIL process where judges provide input and feedback that can be incorporated into their UIL preparation.

“PreUIL is helpful for UIL because we get honest feedback from real life professionals who have never heard us,” sophomore Aditri Pandey said. “It helps us improve our skills so we can provide the best listening experience for an audience.” 

With schools from Prosper ISD and McKinney ISD on campus, orchestra students are helping throughout the day. 

“I’ll be working to make sure the UIL experience goes as smoothly as possible, especially with the transitions from group to group,” Essa said. “This is my first time helping out with UIL, and while I’m not exactly sure of how it will go, I’ll be keeping an open mind.”