Junior Melody Morgan (left) plays the bassoon in her fifth period band class at Clarke Central High School on Feb. 7. For Morgan, who was notified of her acceptance to the Georgia Music Educators Association All-State Band on Feb. 7, the opportunity to represent CCHS is exciting. “(All-State Band has) people from different schools, so it’ll give them a chance to see Clarke Central has a great music program and we do great stuff here with our bands,” Morgan said. Photo by Valeria Garcia-Pozo
Junior Melody Morgan was accepted to the Georgia Music Educators Association All-State Band, which will take place from Feb. 28 to March 2 at the Classic Center in Athens.
Junior Melody Morgan, a bassoon player in the Clarke Central High School wind ensemble and wind symphony, was notified of her acceptance to play in the Georgia Music Educators Association All-State Band on Feb. 7. The event will take place from Feb. 28 to March 2 at the Classic Center.
“(All-State is) for the experience of being put with other people near your same skill level who have the same interest as you,” Morgan said. “You just come together and you play repertoire, and then perform it at the end of the weekend.”
According to Morgan, she was originally chosen as a first alternate for the All-State Band following an audition process involving two preliminary rounds in which she had to perform scales, études, and sight reading.
“I made a stupid mistake last round, but I was first alternate, and so if someone backed out, or couldn’t do it, or didn’t want to, then I could play with the All-State Band,” Morgan said. “Last night, one of my friends from another band, he plays bassoon, he actually contacted me, and he was like, ‘Hey, there’s an opening (to play in All-State Band),’ and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’”
Junior Melody Morgan holds her bassoon in fine arts department co-chair Dr. Robert Lawrence’s office on Feb. 7 at Clarke Central High School. Morgan was notified of her acceptance to the Georgia Music Educators Association All-State Band on Feb. 7 after previously being chosen as a first alternate. “I’m excited, but at the same time, I’m also kind of like, ‘What if I’m not as good as everyone else there?’ But then, I know I am, because I went through the whole audition process, and they approved me for it,” Morgan said. Photo by Valeria Garcia-Pozo
Director of Bands and fine arts department co-chair Dr. Robert Lawrence received official confirmation of Morgan’s acceptance on Feb. 7 from All-State Band coordinator Pat Gallagher.
“(Morgan is) smart enough to know to wait to get the official word, but I could already tell that her heart was in her mouth,” Lawrence said. “I went into (the) GMEA registry, contacted Pat Gallagher, and he said, ‘Yeah, man! Congratulations! She’s made it. I put that in Opus about an hour ago, which means you’ll probably get it tomorrow morning.’ And, true enough, I got it this morning, and it was very emotional seeing that for her.”
Morgan, who will participate in the event for the first time, feels the audition process was more challenging this year than in previous years.
“In ninth grade and tenth grade, I didn’t have to play as many of my scales, and the étude was simpler, and the sight reading was simpler, and this year I added four more scales and the étude was a lot harder,” Morgan said.
Lawrence is proud of Morgan for her accomplishment and believes her work ethic led her to success.
“She works hard,” Lawrence said. “And today, I like to see that just reward go to the people who work hard in return for that. I wish her the best. She’s phenomenal.”
Morgan values the opportunity to connect with other musicians her age and looks forward to the event.
“I’m actually really excited, because it’s a big thing to be able to do as a musician and I mean, you’re playing with the top people in the state, so it’s gonna be a different experience with a lot of new people,” Morgan said.
