California All State Band CBDA

Are you in school and looking for opportunities to see how you can challenge yourself as a musician? If you live in California, there's an annual all state band that you can try out for. It's known as CBDA or California band director association. It occurs every year in Fresno in the month of February for 3-4 days. The only way to get in is to audition for it, and it's an amazing experience for everyone.

Auditioning is a simple process for CBDA. Students get their music for auditions in around March. They have until the end of November to practice, record, and make their audition CD. CD making instructions are listed in the CBDA website. You pay about 45 dollars to send in your tape for them to listen to and be evaluate. Remember, you must submit this CD through your band director! In approximately a month, a letter will come to you informing you of whether you made it or not. If you're in Middle School, they'll send you the music. If you're in high school, you don't know what music you'll be playing because there's a second audition.

For Junior High students, your seats and band is chosen from your auditioned CD. It's a lot more challenging and competitive for High School students. When they go down to Fresno, they have to be prepared for a live seating test. There are three bands: Wind Symphony, Symphonic Band, and Concert Band. Based on the performance of a student's live audition, the judges who are behind a screen will listen and choose which seat in a band you get. For the live audition, you must know all 12 major and minor scale and as many octave as you can play by memory, and you must be able to play your entire piece for the audition. You will also be told to sight read a short piece that you will receive as you audition.

Concerts for the Junior High band occur on the 3rd day of all state bands at night in the Saroyan Theater. The all state high school jazz band will also perform after their performance. The jazz band try outs are different from the normal ones. The day after around noon, all 3 of the concert bands will perform their spectacular music. This is a must have experience for a musician who wants to major in music and it looks great on your college resume! It's an unforgettable experience where you will make lots of friends and meet new people. Don't miss this chance as a music student in California!

www.cbda.org