From Feb. 15 to 19, three Aragon students will participate in the California All-State Music Education Conference in Fresno as part of several honor ensembles. Senior Kailan Bugata, a bass trombonist, was selected to the High School Jazz Band while junior Isabelle Ly, who plays both flute and piccolo, and freshman Tyler Nichols, a bassist, were selected to the High School Golden State Band.
In order to be recognized as part of the ensembles, students must submit a recorded audition that is evaluated by expert adjudicators. These judges select students to be part of five junior high school ensembles and eight high school ensembles across various instrumental categories.
In February of each year, the All-State ensembles gather in Fresno for four days of various music enrichment activities before a performance in front of family, friends and music directors from across the state. Given that the event happens annually, even returning attendees are able to encounter new people and music each time.
Bugata describes what he expects when he attends the conference next month.
“You’re basically rehearsing [and] practicing with all the other accepted members,” Bugata said. “That would all lead up to a performance, which would happen for jazz students on [Feb.] 17th.”
Despite being a freshman, Nichols is already familiar with All-State Bands, having made it into the junior high band in eighth grade. Nonetheless, being accepted again this year came as a shock to him.
“I was much more surprised [because] it’s [a] bigger competition,” Nichols said. “You’re competing against people [in] all grade levels in high school. I was pretty proud of myself.”
Bugata was also surprised by his acceptance.
“I was initially sleeping at the time results came out,” Bugata said. “It was one of my friends who actually told me the All-State results came out and that I should take a look. I was completely taken aback [when I saw] my name on the accepted students list. So I started to tell everyone I knew about it. And they were really happy for me, [and] congratulating me.”
All of the Aragon students who made it into All-State this year began playing their instruments in elementary or middle school, shifting to similar, more advanced instruments later.
“I started with trombone at the request of my middle school music instructor,” Bugata said. “I really liked it, so I continued with that. In my junior year, I was given a bass trombone and I really enjoyed how low it went and how it sounded. So I fell in love with the bass trombone from [then on].”
“I was given a bass trombone and I really enjoyed how low it went … so I fell in love with [it]”
Like Bugata, Ly loves the flute because of its unique sound and her interest was sparked by a teacher. However, she picked up the piccolo for a very different reason.
“For the piccolo, what inspired me to do it was out of necessity, almost,” Ly said. “Because there’s a lot of people that are really good at the flute, a lot of people pick up the auxiliary instrument to stand out even further.”
Additionally, Ly’s experience at Middle College has had a huge impact on her journey.
“I initially thought that my music abilities would decline, since I didn’t have band to keep up with every day,” Ly said. “But being in Middle College has given me a lot of time because each day I only have three hours of high school classes to go to. I have a bunch of time to practice, [which] allowed me to join another youth symphony and an adult flute choir as well.”
Bugata feels that any dedicated musician should give All-State a shot, while Ly and Nichols describe the process as a good learning opportunity.
“Even if you don’t get in, it’s a good process to go through,” Ly said.
All three student musicians plan to continue playing music beyond their time in high school.
