Powell High School will send seven musicians to All State Band and All State Orchestra this year, ranging from experienced performers to first timers. 

Justin Dusenberry and Austin Sears are the two to repeat as All State qualifiers, Dusenberry at clarinet and Sears in percussion. The two also made All Northwest in choir. 

Dusenberry said he’s excited for All State Band as it’s a chance to make really good music. 

“Being able to play in a higher level, like All State Band, I always just find it so much more engaging,” he said. “I can I feel so much more expressive when I play the music, and it's just honestly more therapeutic to just make good music with good musicians, and just meeting other people who do this around the state is also very nice.”

Sears made All State for the third year and said he too enjoys playing with “elite high school musicians.”

“It's a significantly different level than just a regular old high school, since it's the top out of everybody, and it feels like everybody there is devoted to music, and everybody's there to make this music, and it feels much more personal,” he said. “I've met a lot of my really good friends from other towns here … it’s really nice to meet these people and just make connections like that as well.”

Curtis Muecke (clarinet), Memphis Solberg (alto saxophone) and Lilly Pittman (flute) all made All State Band for the first time this year, while Hayden Peters (percussion) and Aubrey Kelley (violin) made All State Orchestra. It was Kelley’s second time qualifying, but this will be her first time attending. 

For Muecke, it was about time, as the senior has auditioned each year since he was a freshman and had previously made All Northwest. 

“I was quite literally jumping for joy,” he said. “It's just so significant that I've been trying for so long, and just the elation I felt when I finally got to realize that dream that I have had for so long.”

Solberg, a junior, said he had never found the time in previous years to try out, but he made a point to do so this year and was rewarded. 

“This time of year when we audition, it's always really busy, like homework wise for me,” he said. “And it was no different this year, still really busy, but I felt like going forward this year.”

Pittman likewise got in on her first attempt, as she only moved to Powell from Texas ahead of this school year. She said she initially was not thinking she’d audition. 

“I was in the middle of my swim season, so I had to try to squeeze that in,” she said. “And then I made it to state swim too. So I was like, ‘I don't have any time to practice.’ I wasn't even gonna do it. But my mom's like, ‘you're gonna do it.’”

Peters, a freshman, wasted no time trying out and made the All State Orchestra on his first try. 

“I was surprised because I was just like, ‘I'm going against some of like, the best percussionists in the state who have made it so many years,’” he said. “I expect it to be a fun, high level band like I haven't been in before.”

Kelley, a sophomore, was in the middle of moving last year and couldn’t make All State, so she’s excited, having qualified again, to finally make the trip. 

“I really like music, and I really like my violin, and it's kind of encouraging that I was able to make it into this really good orchestra,” she said. “So it might motivate me to keep pursuing the violin.”