“The group has been running for 60 years now, it is really unheard of any other a group like that to be running that long and it’s a quality group” said Cameron Band Co-Director and President of the North Central Missouri Bandmasters Association Mr.Blake Duren. Selected CHS band students celebrated this anniversary of extraordinary music and musicians November 22, with other selected students from schools such as Bethany, Braymer, Carrollton, Chillicothe, Excelsior Springs, Fayette, Liberty North, Macon, Marshall, Maysville, Smithville, Southwest, and Trenton schools. Though students are invited to the band they must audition for chairs, or ranking in the band. The chairs (from Cameron) were as follows: Molly Long, 3rd Chair Flute (not in attendance); Erin Smith,1st Chair Oboe; Kyra Richardson, 13th Chair Clarinet; Daniel Sloan, 3rd Chair Tenor Saxophone; Dalton Knott, 4th Chair French Horn; Nathan Rose-Heim, 6th Chair Trombone; Sean Brier, 3rd Chair Euphonium ;Michelle Price,1st Chair Percussionist; Andrea Overman, 5th chair Trumpet; Sydney Holzfaster, 22nd Chair.

    To audition for a chair in the band, students must prepare the piece assigned to them, along with major scales, to perform in front of a judge. Based on the performance of the audition, judges place the musician in their ranking among other musicians of the same instrument. Senior Erin Smith, who isn’t new to the band, still fought back nerves. “I was very nervous and I started shaking and that made me mess up,” she explained.  Among all CHS musicians, there was a mutual agreement that much of their anxiety came from the judges watching them intently. “I felt like the judges were staring at me... blind auditions are easier because you don’t feel like the judges are staring at you make mistakes”, said Erin. Blind auditions are auditions in which the judges are behind a veil or simply turned away from the player, making it more comfortable for the musician. Many students prefer this method.

   It’s not just the judges who are tough, however. Sophomore Daniel Sloan said, “People were really serious about what they were doing; you could tell everyone really wanted to be there.” Steep competition is common at Chillicothe Invitationals, since each musician there represents the best of the best for their school bands. If that wasn’t enough, Dr.Thomas O’Neal not only conducted this elite playing force, but instructed the clinic before the performance.

  Students practiced roughly 7 hours before performing difficult pieces such as Emblem of Unity March, Salvation Is Created, Morceau de Concert, Le Basque, and Albanian Dance; two of which were blessed with a solo by the overwhelmingly talented Marcia Spence, the Processor of Horn at the University of Missouri. Upon hearing the mere recording of the piece, Senior Dalton Knott said, “My favorite piece of music so far is the French Morceau de Concert.” Each piece took the utmost concentration of the musicians, but as in any performing group, camaraderie is important. Dalton put it well when he said, “The best part about this band probably is meeting the new people and getting to know them.”

   “I think all of the CHS students handled themselves professionally, they did their job, they did well on their auditions; I have no complaints with them at all.” said Mr.Duren. The performance was a major success. Seats in the Chillicothe High School auditorium were packed, and the audience could not have been more delighted as the next generation of musicians played to their best abilities. Mr.Duren said “We have the highest level of conductors to come and perform with us, and it’s a great experience for the kids because in school, we might spend like a month working on something where as with that [Chillicothe Invitationals] it’s a day and a half to work on it so it’s a great experience, a lot of learning, and they get to play in a very large ensemble with no weak spots.”

   To put it simply, Daniel said, “We practiced for one day and after that one day we had a performance.” Even before the Chillicothe Invitationals, students toiled to perfect their abilities, to work on more challenging pieces, and to play well with other musicians. Heart and soul, perspiration and perseverance, these students push to make the best performance possible. It is safe to say that these student musicians accomplished their goal.