Oxford High School’s Band and Orchestra departments are proud to announce that five students have been selected by the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association (MSBOA) to perform with the 2018 All-State Band and Orchestra Ensembles on Saturday, Jan. 27 in Grand Rapids.

Students scheduled to perform include senior oboist Hayden Franke, junior trombonist Tyler Dulinski, senior guitarist Luke Sittard, senior string bassist Zachariah Smith and junior violist Nadia Smith. Earning an honorable mention was sophomore oboist Selina Langfeldt.

This year more than 2,600 students from across the state competed for the honor to play in one of five ensembles – Middle School String Orchestra, Middle School Band, High School Full Orchestra, High School Band and High School Jazz Band.

OHS Band Director Jim Gibbons said this is the highest number of students the school has had selected to perform in the MSBOA All-State program at one time.

“I consider All-State to be the top honor for kids because it’s a level playing field. The same judge is listening to them and they are all playing the same music . . . It’s a pretty big honor,” he said. “It gives them the opportunity to grow in a different way musically and it forces them to practice different music and to prepare for an audition and allows them to make that connection. It also helps put these kids on the radar of colleges and universities and builds legitimacy. It’s a recognizable, tangible recognition of their performance skills.”

Franke was selected to play first chair oboe in the MSBOA All-State Band.

This will be his second year performing in the highly-esteemed band.

“When you make it two years in a row, that’s a big deal because they perform a completely different piece of music every year and there were around 70 students who auditioned for oboe this time . . . It’s hard to go twice,” Gibbons said. “Not only did he make it, but he moved up. He played fourth chair last year and he will play first chair this year.”

Smith will also be leading his section in the All-State High School Orchestra as he plays first chair string bass.

Dulinski will perform with the MSBOA All-State High School Band. According to Gibbons, while Dulinski opted to perform on the trombone with the All-State High School Band, he was also accepted to play the bass trombone the All-State High School Jazz Band.

“Playing one audition by itself is incredibly difficult, but Tyler auditioned for both and he made both groups,” Gibbons explained. “He was the only kid that I could see who was selected to be in two different ensembles.”

All-State ensembles are selected by the MSBOA from recorded auditions.

Students must prepare an announced etude, a series of scales and sight-read during each 10-minute recorded audition. Each audition is submitted using only an identification number with no reference to the student or school. The auditions are evaluated by an adjudicator and placed in order.

The MSBOA All-State program was established during the 2005-06 school year.

Each year the Michigan Music Conference brings together band, orchestra and vocal music educators from pre-school to college levels throughout Michigan for training workshops and concerts

Each group will perform at the conference with nationally-recognized conductors on Jan. 27 at DeVos Performance Hall in Grand Rapids. Performances are open to the public and tickets are available through Ticketmaster or at the DeVos Performance Hall box office.

The All-State Performances begin at 8 a.m.

Tickets are $10 per person and $5 for ages 10 and under.