Central Plains High School student Tim Demel was selected as the 1st Chair Principal Oboe in the 1234A State Honor Band. Demel will travel to Wichita for the Kansas Music Educators Association state convention to be held at the Century II Convention Center Feb. 23-25 for rehearsals and performance.

In November, seven Central Plains musicians submitted audition tapes for the Southwest District Honor Band. Tanner Dahlke, Alice Radenberg, Will Radenberg, Pete Krier, Aubrey Kempke, Emily Girard, and Tim Demel auditioned.

Girard and Demel were selected and performed for the Southwest District Honor Band Dec. 3, 2011 in Dodge City. The audition tape, which included a chromatic scale in the entire range of the instrument, was a college level audition excerpt selected by the board of the Kansas Music Educators Association Board of Trustees. The competition for the group includes all schools within the Southwest district and over 15 counties. This years’ competition increased due to the number of entries per instrument.

Demel was selected 1st Chair Oboe for his fourth consecutive year, and Girard was selected for 3rd chair flute, moving up six chairs from 9th chair her previous year.

After selection and performance for the District Level Honor Band, the students are then eligible to audition at the state level, which was held at Salina Central on Jan. 7. This was a live audition. Tim and Emily were given an audition number and had to wait their turn to go in a room full of judges and monitors. The criteria for auditions at the state level is the chromatic scale, a selected major scale two octaves, and the same audition excerpt from district with an added third section.