Seven band students traveled to UCM in Warrensburg to participate in District Band. Two made district and five were selected for honor band after auditions on November 7 at Warrensburg High School.

  Those students are: District Band Senior Claudia Schmitz, flute, and Junior Nathan Townley, Euphonium; Honor band seniors Austin Reynolds, Tenor Saxophone, and Amanda Pool, flute, juniors Noah Long, clarinet, and Chris Bozarth, tuba, and sophomore Zoe Eledge, clarinet. Corey Nahrstedt, trumpet, was an alternate to the Honorable Mention Band.

  About twenty Warsaw band students auditioned for the band, with a district total of about nine hundred students. This is an accomplishment for each student who made the band or honorable mention.

  District Band played “Allumination,” “Dusk,” “Shine,” and “Albanian Dance.”

  “They weren’t incredibly hard,” senior Claudia Schmitz said. “harder than what we play normally in regular band.”

  Schmitz made eighth chair out of eleven flutes. This is Schmitz’s fourth year to make the top group. Schmitz also made tenth chair in State honor band. She will rehearse at the Missouri Music Educator’s Association Wednesday, January 27, through Saturday, January 30. Schmitz will then perform the afternoon of the 30th.

  “Learning audition music each year helped me improve,” Schmitz said.

  In order to make the band the musicians must audition. About twenty Warsaw students auditioned, with a district total of about nine hundred.

  “We usually have a higher percentage make it than all those other schools,” band director Ben Johnson said.

  The district is big, with schools such as Smith Cotton and Raymore.

  Making the honor band is great as well. Junior Chris Bozarth (tuba) auditioned with about twenty other tubas, placing fifth chair in the honor band. Making the band helped Bozarth get over his nerves for the audition.

  The honor band played “Yorkshire Ballet,” “Forced of the King,” and “British Eighth March.”

  Sophomore Zoe Eledge (clarinet)  practiced two hours a day for three weeks up until he audition. Eledge made honor band as eleventh chair out of twenty three.

   By being part of the band, the students get experience playing under a different director. Each year there is a special guest director. This year the honor band director was Dr. Jennings, also known as D.J.

  “D.J. said we were going to be so good they’d throw babies on the stage,” Eledge said.

  Rehearsing for five hours straight, taking a break, and then rehearsing for another five hours helped Eledge improve.

  “It helped us get ready faster.”