This Saturday, high school musicians across Iowa will be participating in auditions to be among the select few to be chosen for All-State.

Students from Perry and Adel-DeSoto-Minburn will be travelling to Atlantic for the auditions, hoping to continue a process that started in July. Perry Vocal Music Director Jenn Nelson says the music chosen for the year is a tightly-guarded secret until it’s released in late July. After that, potential participants can attend camps and workshops around Iowa to help them get ready for auditions. The specific sections of music to be used in auditions are not revealed until the day of the event.

Nelson says it’s a challenging process, and it culminates in a day like no other. “It’s kind of crazy that day, because there’s a ton of students there in the gym and the commons. And they’re singing, and they’re playing instruments. And so it’s just a very long day, with lots of waiting, but it’s a really exciting day for musicians across our state.”

Perry is sending two vocalists and one instrumentalist, while ADM is sending nine vocalists and four instrumentalists. If selected, they will have the honor of performing at the All-State Music Festival in November at Iowa State University. Nelson says All-State participants are truly the cream of the musical crop in Iowa. “The number of students auditioning varies a bit each year, but it basically amounts to the students who are selected for the band, chorus, and orchestra make up the top 3% of student musicians in our state.”

To hear more from Nelson, listen to today’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.