Since November, I decided that I was going to try out for the Regionals Orchestra. Regionals included many high schools (2-4), and all 9th graders through 12th graders could try out. Since I am a 9th grader, I didn't have too much confidence going into this thing way back in November, due to the fact that I was competing against people that have 3+ more years of experience than me. My piano teacher, who also plays string instruments, helped me prepare for Regionals, and also my orchestra teacher did as well. I am so thankful that I had their help, because without them I wouldn't have had any idea what in the world I was doing. The audition consisted of me knowing 8 major and 8 minor 3 octave scales, along with their arpeggios. Also, I had to play 3 etudes, and sight read. My audition was today at 10:44. I warmed up for a little bit in this huge audititorium. It was so dark and noisy in there. Harps, flutes, saxophones, cellos, bases, violas, violins, clarinets, choir singers, and every other musical instrument in there was playing! I had my mom hold up my music so I could run through it really quick before my real audition. Ater an estimated total of 30 hours of practice or more that I put into this (for a four minute audition), it was time to go in. The judge in the audition room was behind a screen, so that no one could see them. I don't know why they did this, but it was quite a weird experience. My audition was alright. Honestly, I wasn't too confident that I was going to make it. At 9:15 pm I checked the Red Mountain Website, clicked on Regional Results, and BAM! Ashley Hemauer was on the list. Only four people made it from Red Mountain High School (for the violas), and I was the only freshman on there! Thanks for everyones support and encouragement! :)
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