South Tama will be well represented at the Iowa High School All-State Music Festival later this month. Four students including Katie Husak (clarinet/band), Luis Avalos (choir/bass), Joseph Withrow (french horn/orchestra) and Kylie Husak (alto saxophone/band) qualified for the honor ensemble and will perform live at Hilton Coliseum on Thursday, Nov. 25 with the best high school performers from around the state. -- Photo by Darvin Graham

Later this month South Tama will have the honor of being represented in the Iowa High School All-State Band, Chorus and Orchestra.

A total of eight students from South Tama traveled to Hampton-Dumont High School to audition for vocal and instrumental chairs. Out of the group, seven students were recalled for a second audition, four students qualified as all-state performers and one was chosen as an alternate.

All-State Band will be a family affair for sisters Katie and Kylie Husak.

Katie, who is a junior at South Tama, qualified for the third year in a row on clarinet and Kylie, a freshman, will make her All-State debut on alto saxophone.

Junior Joseph Withrow was chosen as a french horn player for the third year in a row. However, this year he was given the honor of playing in the All-State Orchestra, which takes the highest tier performers from the band auditions to fill the orchestra.

South Tama's Katie Husak the moment she sees she has made it through to the All-State Festival for a third year in a row. -- Contributed photo

Withrow said going into the auditions this year he wasn’t even thinking about orchestra as a possibility but was pleasantly surprised when he saw his name under the orchestra banner.

Luis Avalos was the lone senior qualifier from South Tama, qualifying as a bass for the All-State Choir.

Avalos auditioned twice for the band as a freshman and sophomore and broke through last year, qualifying in 2020 after switching to choir.

This will be the first year for Avalos going through the All-State Choir experience in person as last year’s festival was canceled due to the pandemic.

Senior Jonathan Meyer was also chosen as a first alternate on trumpet and will have the opportunity to join the All-State Band if another trumpet player is unable to attend.

Katie Husak qualified for the third year in a row for the Iowa All-State Band playing B Flat Clarinet. She is pictured standing next to the audition results postings at Hampton-Dumont High School on Oct. 23. -- Contributed photo

“This was an outstanding, and probably historic, day for South Tama music,” Band Director Mike Carnahan said. “It was genuinely exciting to see all the success rolling in with the recalls and then the All-State nods. These students have put in so much dedicated time on their own to fine tune their skills, and now it will all pay off at the festival later this month in Ames.”

The auditions proved to be an arduous process for the STC Trojans with each qualifier having to go through a second round of auditions.

“It really took me aback because from the initial audition to the announcement it was about seven hours,” Avalos said. “At that point I was like, ‘There’s probably no way I get in. There’s six spots left and 15 guys that got recalled.’ It was really nerve racking so much that I didn’t even want to see the list when it finally got posted. When I found out I saw everybody running towards me and that was great. The whole day was just a roller coaster of emotions but at the end I was really excited and happy with the outcome.”

Both Withrow and Katie Husak said the recalls were easier than their first audition.

“I was more calm during the recall because I had seen the judge already and had been in there earlier in the day,” Husak said.

Luis Avalos qualified for the second year in a row for the Iowa All-State Chorus. He is pictured standing next to the audition results postings at Hampton-Dumont High School on Oct. 23. -- Contributed photo

For the band performers the auditions required them to play a solo, two to three etudes, 12 major scales and a chromatic scale.

Choir participants were asked to sing Six pieces with two extra pieces that they weren’t sure if would be in the audition.

Though all of the students have been honing their musical abilities for several years, practice on specific All-State pieces began in earnest this July.

For choir, Luis had the opportunity to attend a three-day All-State camp during the summer to help prepare for auditions.

Meanwhile the instrumentalists were tasked with practicing on their own or in lessons at school.

Joseph Withrow reacts to seeing his name on the All-State Orchestra list following a long day of auditions last months. Withrow will join some of the state's elite high school musicians in the orchestra on Nov. 20. -- Contributed photo

“I was nervous in practicing but I kind of knew what I had to do and I just practiced a lot and that helped in the end,” Kylie Husak said.

The entire Trojan quartet said they were excited at the opportunity to gather and play and sing with other students again.

Withrow said he was most excited to perform “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “America the Beautiful” since those are the songs where all three ensembles perform together making some of the most “epic” sounds of the festival.

The Husaks meanwhile are eagerly waiting to perform a piece called “Phoenix” which was commissioned specifically for the 2021 All-State Festival.

“It’s crazy,” Katie Husak said. “It’s extremely fast and extremely challenging and it sounds amazing.”

Joseph Withrow qualified for the third year in a row for the Iowa All-State Festival playing French Horn. Withrow will play in the All-State Orchestra this year. He is pictured standing next to the audition results postings at Hampton-Dumont High School on Oct. 23. -- Contributed photo

For Avalos, he is most anticipating one of the choir’s pieces titled “Music of Stillness” by Iowa-based composer Elaine Hagenberg.

“It has really quiet moments and some really climactic moments,” Avalos said. “It has a lot of clashing notes and then when it resolves it’s really beautiful.”

The Iowa High School All-State Music Festival will take place on Saturday, Nov. 20 at Hilton Coliseum in Ames. Tickets are on sale now.

The concert will also be broadcast at it’s traditional Thanksgiving time on Iowa PBS TV. The television broadcast is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 25 at 7 p.m.

Kylie Husak breathes a sigh of relief while being congratulated by her sister and classmates upon seeing her name listed as a member of the 2021 Iowa All-State Band. -- Contributed photo

Kylie Husak qualified for the Iowa All-State Band playing Alto Saxophone. She is pictured standing next to the audition results postings at Hampton-Dumont High School on Oct. 23. -- Contributed photo

Jonathan Meyer was named first alternate for the 2021 Iowa All-State Band trumpet section. He is pictured standing next to the audition results postings at Hampton-Dumont High School on Oct. 23. -- Contributed photo