Junior double bass player Calvin Long attended Western States Honor Orchestras’ 40th annual festival this past weekend at the University of Northern Colorado. He was the only one in the county to audition and be selected for this two and a half day festival.
The Western States Honor Orchestra festival brings together any 9th-12th grade string player from any western state. The audition is due in early October and requires successful execution of scales, excerpts, and a difficult solo piece. “You get sheet music with excerpts that are well known to be very hard for your instrument and are designed to show all of your inconsistencies,” Long said. “It’s almost essential to have a private lesson teacher to prepare successfully, otherwise getting all of the mini excerpts or skills done in that amount of time is a lot of work.”
Orchestra director and IB music teacher Tom Nugent supports his students by giving them the material at the end of the school year, being available for questions during summer break, and checking in on them once a week up until the auditions are filmed and submitted.
Not only is the audition intense, but the festival itself is filled with rigorous learning. The level of focus and care is extremely high, with the best student players in the state in attendance. Nugent said, “It’s enlightening to know how high a level students can work at.”
Nugent knew that Long would be successful at this festival because of the amount of extra practicing he does outside of class. Long took private lessons at UNC in preparation for his audition and participates in the Greeley Youth Philharmonic Orchestra. “He is constantly playing his bass,”Nugent stated.
Long gained knowledge and experience that he plans to take back to class. He learned and was reminded of practice etiquette, how to treat his section, how to play with a bigger group, and critical self reflection. “Professional and eye opening,” Long described.
As there is in any high school orchestra, there are limitations to what they can play, given the music they physically have, the instrumentation they have as an ensemble, and the ability of the ensemble. Nugent hopes that through this experience Long was able to see possibility. “The world of music is rich,” Nugent said.
