CULLMAN, Ala. – Several area band students traveled to Muscle Shoals High School to audition for the Alabama Bandmasters Association 2020 All-State Bands recently. Those selected for All-State Band honors will participate in the All-State Band Festival at the Von Braun Civic Center in Huntsville April 23-25.
Making All-State bands is no easy feat, said Cullman High School Director of Bands Christopher Smith.
“About 400 students auditioned for All-State in our district (3),” he said. “Several thousand students audition statewide for a very limited number of spots in the three high school All-State Bands. There is also one middle school All-State Band.”
The Alabama Bandmasters Association is split into eight districts. Cullman County is in District 3 along with Walker, Winston, Lauderdale, Colbert, Franklin, Lawrence, Marion, Lamar and Fayette Counties.
Cullman High School Assistant Band Director Doug Teuscher added, “Every district has an All-State audition that’s super hard. Every student that wants to try out, they have to go against everybody from that district. They pick the top players out of each district and they make a band.”
The three All-State Bands for high school are Red, White and Blue. There is also a Middle School All-State Band.
Good Hope Middle School’s Samuel Cregan (tuba) and Cullman Middle School’s Logan Walker (clarinet) were each selected as part of the All-State Middle School Band.
The same audition is used to determine the District Honor Band; more musicians are chosen for this band. Those chosen for All-State also make District Honor Band, along with the best musicians who weren’t selected for the All-State Bands. According to Teuscher, it is not uncommon for those who make the All-State Bands to forego their places in the District Honor Band, giving students selected as alternates an opportunity to participate.
The rigorous audition process requires each musician to perform all scales, at least two prepared pieces (three for percussion) and demonstrate their sight-reading abilities. Each audition is blind, with musicians performing behind a curtain for the judges.
Two area clarinet players were placed in the All-State Red Band after impressive auditions. Cullman High School’s Tessa Adkins and Meek High School’s Gracie Hamby will perform together in April.
Several musicians are currently listed as “unassigned,” including West Point High School’s Kellen Drinkard (bassoon), Cullman High School’s Sara Reeves (piccolo) and Elijah Putman (baritone saxophone), Meek’s Sabrina Gaines (bass clarinet) and Hanceville’s Xander Williamsen (tenor saxophone).
Teuscher explained, “Sometimes for random instruments, like Sara (Reeves) on piccolo, when you go to the actual All-State, you have to do a short tryout again and they put you in Red, White or Blue because they don’t know how many they are going to need.”
Once the musicians get to All-State, they will compete with other musicians from other districts to determine chair placement within each band.
Below is the complete list of All-State and District Honor Band musicians from The Tribune’s coverage area.
All-State Red Band
- Tessa Adams- Cullman High School, clarinet
- Gracie Hamby- Meek High School, clarinet
All-State White Band
- Jordan Nash- Cullman High School, clarinet
All-State Blue Band
- Holli Hyche- Meek High School, clarinet
- Madeline Murrah- Meek High School, clarinet
- Yukino Shichinohe- Cullman High School, alto saxophone
All-State High School Unassigned
- Sara Reeves, Cullman High School, piccolo
- Kellen Drinkard- West Point High School, bassoon
- Sabrina Gaines- Meek High School, bass clarinet
- Xander Williamsen- Hanceville High School, tenor saxophone
- Elijah Putman- Cullman High School, baritone saxophone
All-State High School Alternate
- Tori Payne, Meek High School, flute
- Zayne Welborn- Good Hope High School, trombone
All-State Middle School Band
- Logan Walker- Cullman Middle School, clarinet
All-State Middle School Alternate
- Samuel Cregan- Good Hope Middle School, tuba
District 3 Honor Band High School
- Sara Reeves- Cullman High School, piccolo
- Tori Payne- Meek High School, flute
- Victoria Frith- Meek High School, flute
- Kellen Drinkard- West Point High School, bassoon
- Tessa Adkins- Cullman High School, clarinet
- Gracie Hamby- Meek High School, clarinet
- Jordan Nash- Cullman High School, clarinet
- Holli Hyche- Meek High School, clarinet
- Madeline Murrah- Meek High School, clarinet
- Sabrina Gaines- Meek High School, bass clarinet
- Yukimo Shichinohe- Cullman High School, alto saxophone
- Xander Williamsen- Hanceville High School, tenor saxophone
- Elijah Putman- Cullman High School, baritone saxophone
- Zayne Welborn- Good Hope High School, trombone
- Ryan Griffis- Meek High School, percussion
District 3 Honor Band Middle School
- Logan Walker- Cullman Middle School, clarinet
- Kira Kuznyetsova- West Point High School, clarinet
- Vallyn Frith- Meek, trumpet
- Zane Tran- Cullman Middle School, trombone
- Samuel Cregan-Good Hope Middle School, tuba
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