Students audition, selected for SEIBA Honor Band

Southeast Iowa Bandmasters Assoction Honor Band after auditions were held Jan. 7 at Fairfield High School.

Accepted were: Lindsey Repp, eighth-grade clarinet; Loreena Hucke, eighth-grade percussion; and Dakota Andersen, eighth-grade trumpet.

More than 700 students from southeast Iowa auditioned at the event, which is sponsored by SEIBA each year in Fairfield. This year, there were 24 audition centers, with approximately 400 students auditioning for two junior high bands; nearly 300 students auditioning for the high school concert band; and about 75 students auditioning for the high school jazz band.

For the audition, junior high students were expected to prepare chromatic and nine major scales and two assigned etudes. High school students prepared two assigned etudes, chromatic and all major scales, and a solo excerpt of their choice.

Competition is tough, as only about half of the students auditioning are accepted, said FMS band instructor Mary Andersen.

The SEIBA Festival was Saturday at Iowa City West High School. The students rehearsed with conductors during the day, and gave an evening concert. The junior high bands were conducted by Guy Blair, retired band director of Pella; and Bard Mackey, director at Hansen Elementary School in Cedar Falls. Guest conductors for the other bands included: jazz band ? Victor Goines, Northwestern College in Evanston, Ill., as well as education consultant for Jazz at Lincoln Center; and high school concert band ? Michael Galemo, Iowa State University director of bands in Ames.