By Jacqueline Zhu
COPY EDITOR
Andover High School students participating in the Massachusetts Music Educators’ Association (MMEA) Northeastern District Junior Festival will perform on March 18, 2023 at Galvin Middle School in Wakefield, MA.
Auditions for Junior Festival took place on January 28, 2023 at Tenney Grammar School in Methuen, MA. According to Sean Walsh, the fine arts program coordinator at Andover Public Schools, students must be in grades six through nine and participate in a school ensemble, such as band, orchestra, or chorus, to be eligible to audition. Music directors must be active members of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) to register students for Junior Festival.
Nitsan Cohen-Yashar, freshman, plays flute during band rehearsal.
The audition entailed performing two scales and an excerpt of a preselected piece in front of an adjudicator.
“Students get the music in advance, and they work on it independently,” explained Walsh. “They’ll usually have around three to four weeks to prepare the music.”
Auditions are evaluated on certain criteria, which include intonation, tone quality, technique, and musicianship. Students who meet the qualifying score for their instrument, which varies from year to year, proceed to perform at Junior Festival.
“This year, we have 18 students districtwide who were admitted into Junior Festival,” stated Walsh. Five AHS freshmen are among those accepted.
Megan Huang, a violinist, reflected on her experience auditioning for Junior Festival. “When we got there, we basically had a few minutes to practice before our auditions,” she said. “The auditions were short, but they were really nerve-wracking.”
Huang stated that because of her anxiety, she did worse than expected. “I still got in, but I’m not as excited as I should be,” she said.
Violinist Meredith Cummings echoed a similar sentiment. “[The adjudicators] didn’t give us live feedback, but they wrote notes,” she stated. “It was really stressful, because they were just completely silent during the audition. You could hear the clicking of their keyboards as they were typing down their notes.”
In contrast, flutist Nitsan Cohen-Yashar felt more enthusiastic about his audition. “I already knew most of the scales,” he said. “I also practiced the piece beforehand, and it just needed some minor tweaking.”
Regarding the benefits gained from participating in Junior Districts, Walsh explained that it familiarizes students with the audition process. This aspect is particularly important for those interested in pursuing music as a career.
“If you’re able to play with high-level musicians and work with a master instructor, I think that experience is invaluable,” said Walsh.
