On December 10, students entered JP Stevens as early as 9 a.m. for their region band, orchestra, or choir auditions. After the students spent months on months preparing for these auditions, the audition itself only lasted a few minutes. 

“The preparation for regions orchestra took a lot of hard work from learning the excerpts to maintaining a good practice regimen but the hardest part of it all was staying mentally focused,” said sophomore Olive Wang, a violin player. “I began to feel overwhelmed as the audition date got closer, but a few of my close friends as well as Dr. Verdi and Mr. Lee helped me through my anxiety and I am so appreciative.”

The crowd in the school was overwhelming and the sound of warm-ups in the auditorium was deafening. When escaping the sound to wander down the hallways, students were seen waiting to partake in the three different aspects of their audition: scales, solo, and sight reading. 

The scale section of the audition required students to prepare a set of major scales in a certain rhythm at a minimum tempo. Next, there was an assigned solo for each instrument or voice part, which constitutes the majority of a student’s score. Solos were graded on a variety of aspects including technicality, tone, and expression. The last part of the audition was the one part that cannot exactly be prepared for: sight reading. This tested students on their skill to analyze a short excerpt of music for 30 seconds and play it to the best of their ability. All of these subgroups added together created a composite score that was used to rank auditionees. 

Many students feel very nervous in the audition space, but for JPS musicians, they were greeted with a very familiar surrounding and many of their peers. 

“At first I was nervous, but seeing all my friends and just being in a comfortable environment made such a big difference to me,” said sophomore Sid Vaidya, a saxophone player. “All I needed to do was to focus and not make careless mistakes. Half of the work was done for me already.”

As usual, JP Stevens performed exceptionally well at the region auditions with: 32 accepted band students, 9 accepted orchestra students, and 23 accepted choir students making their respective groups. 

“Even though auditioning in a room full of judges was nerve-wracking, the musical experience I can get singing in a Regions choir is unmatched,” said junior Prakruti Ankem, a choir student. “I was thrilled to hear I was accepted into the ensemble once again and greatly look forward to being a part of it.”