Junior Rachel Jiang and senior Aditi Vikram both advanced to earn All-State recognition at the Association of Texas Small School Band area auditions on Jan. 8.
Upper School Band teacher Brian Donnell says that students spent a lot of time working on their music preparing for All-State.
“Both Rachel and Aditi have an amazing work ethic, which is what helped them make All-State,” Donnell said.
Donnell says the students trained constantly, aiming to achieve the outcomes they set out for.
“The consistent practice at school or with their lesson teacher is a big factor in the process,” Donnell said.
Artists preparing for the event typically practice with a private lesson teacher to work on their skills and music in addition to the instruction they receive in class.
“Having a lesson teacher helps me work on my individual skills, like improving my tone quality and playing the correct rhythms and notes,” Vikram said.
Vikram and Jiang say challenges during the process included finding different ways to balance school, band and other activities.
“I try to get my homework out of the way so I can save time for practicing,” Vikram said. “But when there are times when school gets busy, I try to take a break from extracurriculars so my schoolwork does not pile up too much.”
Additionally, Vikram says the audition itself was challenging.
“Getting over nerves is hard because when you are sitting in that room you only get one chance to perform after your months of preparation,” Vikram said.
Jiang and Vikram, joined by freshman Amanda Ye, will travel to San Antonio for the Texas Music Educators Association convention on Feb. 15.
“I am excited to bond with other people not from Greenhill, and hangout with the other people from band,” Ye said.
Donnell says seeing his students perform at this level is rewarding for himself and Greenhill.
“It is great for the school because our name is associated with great musicians, and I think it is outstanding for people around the state to see it,” Donnell said. “Seeing them achieve this award at a high level is great for [the students].”
