The Arizona eighth grade all-state band held auditions for the first time this year, with five students from Fountain Hills Middle School making the cut, including Sam Aker, Eric Biszantz, Mitchell Woltkamp, Savanna Czyz and Brendan Tjeerdsma.

In previous years, middle school band instructors could simply recommend their top performers to take part in the all-state ensemble. This year, however, students had to perform for a panel of judges, resulting in nearly half a dozen local musicians earning a spot for the all-state performance.

For Aker, getting into music pretty much runs in the family.

“Both of my brothers played the tuba before I did and that kind of casts expectations, you know,” he said.

“But tuba is really fun. It’s big and can be considered the most important instrument for the band because bass lays the foundation for the melodies.”

Czyz said she started with piano but got bored. Knowing that clarinet was a similar instrument, she decided to make the switch.

“I had a friend who played clarinet and thought I’d give it a try,” she said.

“I sort of taught myself how to play before sixth grade band, so it was kind of easy for me by then.”

Biszantz said that his parents excel at singing but, since he can’t carry a note, he decided that playing an instrument, the clarinet, might be a better option for himself.

Woltkamp is also from a family of musicians, but his brother and sister played alto sax.

“I saw the high school marching band and thought that looked cool, so I decided to play an instrument. But I wanted to be different, unlike Sam over there,” he added, earning a laugh from the group.

“So I ended up playing trombone. It’s fun and loud.”

Tjeerdsma’s mom is a music teacher and his father played trumpet. At a concert, however, he grew intrigued with the percussion section and decided to take up the instrument.

Czyz said that working with her fellow musicians is the best part about playing in a large band.

“You have the percussion, the brass and the woodwinds, and it all sounds pretty when they’re playing together,” she added.

Aker agreed, saying that he enjoys seeing the progress he and his bandmates make as they continue to play.

“It’s amazing when you hear the great sound that a band can make,” he added.

“And then you hear bands above you play, and hear how amazing it is, and you think to yourself, that’s where I’m going to be someday.”

Biszantz said that it’s interesting to play with a band at this early stage, and that he also enjoys the process of improvement.

“When we first get the music, it’s funny because we’ll miss a lot of parts or sound terrible,” he said.

“But then in like two weeks we’ve got it down pretty well and can start working on all of the minor details. It’s really cool how that happens in just two weeks.”

This being the first year for all-state auditions, these five musicians all agreed that it was a rather intimidating process.

“The auditions were actually pretty tough,” Tjeerdsma said.

“It was really hard to get some of it down.”

Biszantz continued.

“I thought I wouldn’t make it, so I thought I’d just be doing it for kicks,” he said.

“But then I got it, so that was cool.”

When asked if they were nervous performing under these types of conditions, the group spoke in unison, delivering an emphatic, “yeah.”

They all made it through, however, and are very excited to take part in this special program.

The big day arrives on Saturday, March 22, when the sixth, seventh and eighth grade bands are set to perform at a special musical event hosted out of Dobson High School.