On Friday and Saturday March 3-4, All-State auditions will be held at Desert Vista High School. The All-State festival is a state festival for choir, orchestra, and band. Ninety-three high schools all over Arizona are participating in this extremely competitive festival. What will be auditioned for All-State orchestra is 2 all-state excerpts, 1 solo piece, sight reading, and three major/melodic minor scales with arpeggios. Regional participation is required for All-State auditions.

“It’s going to be a tough audition,” violinist Alex Min said. “There are only 44 violin seats available, and this is going to be a highly competitive battle for all 93 high schools and the multitude of violinists.”

While the All-State audition is held at Desert Vista high school, the actual festival will take place in Arizona State University from Friday April 7th to Saturday April 8th. Rehearsal will take place all day on Friday and the concert will be on Saturday. Every year All-State is held at a different college, from NAU to U of A to ASU. Songs are to be decided and distributed after auditions.

“I am glad this year’s All-State is at Arizona State University,” French Horn player Nathan Zhang said. “It’s close to home and convenient for us Desert Vista students. From my regional experience, rehearsals were extremely long and tiring but we didn’t mind because we were surrounded by music and our friends. Region was a great place to bond through music, and I hope I can make All-State to create even better memories.”