By Chris Moffitt

For all you music lovers out there, imagine music paradise. Imagine performing with the top high school musicians in Arizona in a beautiful concert hall while looking out through a lush green forest at snowy peaks. For those of you who don’t like music (if that’s even possible)… still imagine music paradise.

I recently had the opportunity, along with two talented fellow TPA-ers (Freshman Nasrynn Chowdhury and Junior Thomas Menefee), to visit Northern Arizona University and attend the annual All-State Festival. To be eligible, musicians must first make it into the Regional Festival, a feat in itself, and then go through the audition process a second time to try for the All-State Festival. The auditions are scored on a point system with two categories: a solo followed by the dreaded sight reading. Every motivated high school musician goes through this process, so to qualify for All-State, one is essentially competing with every musician in the entire state of Arizona.

The All-State Festival has three categories: All-State Band, All-State Choir, and All-State Orchestra. Nasrynn and I participated in the All State Choir, while Thomas, an amazingly talented bass player, made First Chair Bass in the All-State Orchestra. In effect, this means that Thomas is the best high school bass player in the entire state of Arizona! What a way to represent TPA!

Nasrynn spoke for all of us as she described her experience in Flagstaff. “The All-State performance was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. In the auditorium, the music engulfs you. The moment the music began, it didn’t seem like just any song, it felt like I was living the song; I could feel every note and word. In the end, I felt that my All-State experience was priceless. I learned so many things and met such amazing people.”

Making music with the top musicians of the state in such a beautiful setting is something none of us will ever forget.