PEA RIDGE -- The Pea Ridge Junior and Senior High Bands had multiple students selected to the Arkansas School Band and Orchestra Association's Region 6 Honor Bands and Jazz Bands.
This year, due to covid-19, students auditioned for the Region Honor Bands through an online recording process. Those recordings were then sent to region directors for scoring. The first auditions occurred in November, members of the Pea Ridge High School Jazz Band auditioned for the Region Honor Jazz Band and seven of them were selected: Josh Starner, Layton Powell, Jeremiah Wachtel, Warren Bowman, Taylor McCaslin, Kyle Telgemeier and Dillon Brouse. Brouse and McCaslin were selected to the top band and the rest were placed in the second band. McCaslin, Brouse and Wachtel all scored high enough in their auditions to qualify for All-State Jazz Band auditions.
The next event was the Junior High All-Region Concert Band auditions in December for students in grades 7-9. Pea Ridge had 12 students selected to an honor band: Maren Christensen, Ava Clark, Wyatt Dodson, Jackson Turner, Croix Licause, Joshua McCaslin and Isaiah Bott all placed in the top band; Paige Titsworth, Julia Carlson, Tristen Williams, Tait Allen and Jonah Murphy were placed in the second band.
In January, the Senior High Honor Band auditions for grades 10-12 placed 10 students in the All-Region band. Joseph Sanders, Sydney Pesja, Morgan Humphrey, Taylor McCaslin, Jeremiah Wachtel and Layton Powell were selected to the top Region Band. Connor Gartrell, Jonathan Ortiz, Noah Olson and Tate Christensen were selected to the second band. Humphrey, McCaslin, Wachtel, Powell and Olson each scored high enough to qualify for All-State auditions.
The last auditions occurred in February for those students who qualified to audition for the association's All-State bands.
Three Pea Ridge students were selected to an All-State Band and one student placed as an alternate. Senior Morgan Humphrey was selected to the second All-State band in the flute section. This was her third year as a member of the All-State band. That's an excellent achievement, according to assistant band director Matt McCool.
Senior Layton Powell, was selected to the third All-State Band in the trumpet section and this was his second year in the All-State Band.
Senior Dillon Brouse, was first alternate for the All-State Jazz Band playing drum set.
Junior Taylor McCaslin, was selected to both the second All-State Concert Band percussion section and the top All-State Jazz Band on piano -- an incredible achievement to double in All-State. This is the second year as an All-State member for McCaslin.
Each student that was selected to a Region Honor Band had a virtual clinic where they got to meet and talk with a professional musician on their instrument. The All-State band members had their clinics online as well, with members of the "Pershing's Own" Army Band in place of an in-person All-State convention held in Hot Springs over several days.