Five Southern Lehigh High School students passed the PMEA (Pennsylvania Music Educators Association) District 10 Orchestra and Band, and 29 students passed the county band auditions earlier this December. Among these students were junior Shriya Chitta, who auditioned with the violin for District Orchestra; sophomore Jiwoo Shin, who auditioned with the clarinet for District and County Band, placing as #1 clarinet; and freshman Anya Sharma, who auditioned with flute and ranked #2 in the county band.
Although the students passed their auditions, they explained how it was not easy.
“The audition process was a bit stressful because we didn’t know how long we would be there,” Chitta said. “The audition itself was separated into two parts, and there were three judges for each section of the audition.”
While waiting for their turn, the anticipation was painstaking.
“There were a lot of clarinets, so a lot of us were waiting. If I miss a call once, I must wait hours to be called. I had to wait hours if I reacted a second later than someone else,” Shin said. “This made me nervous for the entire four hours I was waiting there.”
Despite the stress of it all, many students also had great experiences.
“I was excited to audition and meet new people,” Sharma said.
Given these students’ success, most of them plan to continue their music beyond high school.
“My future goals for orchestra would be to maybe join an orchestra in college and keep playing as a hobby,” Chitta said.
The District Band will be held from January 11-13 at Exeter Township High School, and the District Orchestra will be held from February 9-10 at Bethlehem Area Schools. The County Band will meet here at Southern Lehigh on January 6, January 20, February 1, and February 3.