“Practice makes perfect” is a quote that juniors Christian Honicker and Grace Mongrain, and sophomore Vanessa Biddle live by. Three Pottsville Area High School students competed for spots in District Band and also made it into Region band. Region Band is the next level up from District Band. Students had to audition again on a much harder price of music in order to make the cut.

Junior Grace Mongrain said, “Region Band is the final level of auditions you have to go through to make it to All State, which is the best of the best in Pennsylvania. I had to audition at the District Band Festival and be in the top 14 of the 30 clarinets that were there. It took many years of practice and work to finally get in. It’s really fun to play with 140 other super talented musicians who have the same goal as I do. It’s also fun to make new friends.”

Sophomore Vanessa Biddle said, “I have never been in Region Band. Freshmen  can’t go to regions – it’s a P.M.E.A Policy – so this is my first year! Regions is the farthest I’ve gone so far in competitive band festivals. I’m very excited for the new experience and challenging music.”

Junior Christian Honicker said, “I wasn’t expecting to get this far. None of us did, but here we are. I guess it goes to show how far we’ve come as musicians. We’re all excited for Regionals.”

The Region Band concert will commence on March 28, at 3:00 pm. This year the concert will be held at Eastern York High School in York, Pennsylvania. The price of a ticket is $10.00 for adults and $8.00 for students.