Each year, students are selected from colleges and universities across the state to play in the Arkansas Intercollegiate Band (AIB.)
Seven Ouachita students will participate this year, including Kelsey Bates, a horn player and music education major; Deborah Caldwell, a trumpet player and instrumental music education major; Paul Hill, a percussion player and instrumental music education major; Leah Jones, a horn player and music education major; Andrew McCraw, a trombone player and instrumental music education major; Elyse Senteney, a flute player and music education major; and Ruthie Stoner, a clarinet player and clarinet performance major.
Intercollegiate band members are recommended by their band director and then based on these recommendations, a select number of students are invited by the AIB to participate.
“It is a group of selected students from the higher education institutions … all over Arkansas that get together and work up a great concert in two days,” Caldwell said. “It is like All-Region or All-State for college students.”
For Bates, performing in the AIB is a honor she has hoped for since high school.
“In high school I made All-State Band and saw the intercollegiate perform every year,” Bates said. “I always admired the college students and hoped that one day I would have the chance to be looked up to as well. This is now my second year to be selected for AIB. It is so rewarding to get to perform with the top collegiate musicians in the state.”
These Ouachita students share a deeply-felt passion for music and are pleased to be a part of the AIB.
“Music is my life,” Bates said. “It makes me happy. I don’t exactly understand why I enjoy it or why I’m so passionate about it. I guess I was just born this way, and I wouldn’t change a thing. I hope that as a teacher I’ll be able to instill in my students the same passion for music that was instilled upon me.”
Some students expressed how their enthusiasm for music extends outside of practicing and band rehearsals.
“You can find me in my room half the time just listening to orchestra songs or movie sound tracks,” Jones said. “I love listening to music soundtracks. Or if I have had a stressful day, I will go to a practice room and start playing whatever I want on a piano.”
Jones views the honor as a privilege to play with talented musicians.
“My director has decided to give me another chance to be a part of something even better than what I am able to be a part of here,” Jones said. “This is the best college musicians from all over Arkansas, and he is letting me be a part of this.”
The Arkansas Intercollegiate Band will perform on Feb. 18-19 at the Arkansas Music Educators Association meeting that is being held at the Hot Springs Convention Center.
By Hannah Holmes, Signal Writer
