The TKMEA Concert

By: Elise Hyde

Our Rangers represented Redwood phenomenally at the TKMEA concert at COS. In order to be apart of this orchestra, you have to practice and study several different pieces of music to audition in front of judges. The judges will determine if you will or will not make it, and if you do, they determine which chair you are, from the best musician in the person’s instrument section to the worst. The four main high schools in Visalia and some others outside of Visalia participated in the TKMEA.

Rangers represented a little bit over 60% in the TKMEA concert. I had the chance to talk to two talented musicians, Laine Roper ’22 and Aya Aziz ’20, who were both first chair at the TKMEA concert.

Roper was the first chair cellist at the TKMEA concert. Roper prepared for auditions by practicing at home a lot, making sure she hit every note and beat when she practiced in class, and when it came to auditions, Roper made sure she was relaxed before playing in front of the judges. Roper says, “Auditions were nerve-wracking, but I tried to play relaxed and as calm as possible so I can play the rest to my ability.” Roper says that her overall experience was “really cool” because the conductor was great, and she enjoyed playing music with everyone.

Being apart of the TKMEA concert can add to kids’ schedules. Roper says, “I was pretty busy because once I got home I did my homework, then I practiced my music for school, and then my music for TKMEA. Roper shares advice for incoming freshmen trying out for the TKMEA and she says one helpful method is to record yourself and then listen to it to know what to improve on, work hard, and play confident and calm at the auditions. Roper also says that Mr. Yokota doesn’t require his students to try out for the TKMEA, but he encourages it because he wants his students to try new things and have a whole new experience of playing with other students from different schools.

Laine Roper ’22 playing her cello during a solo

Aziz was the first chair violinist at the TKMEA concert. Since Aziz is a violinist she played a special role in the concert. At the very beginning walked out separately and tuned the whole orchestra and she had several solos. Aziz prepared for the TKMEA by practicing the audition materials with her private teacher at least once a week a month before the audition. The audition music piece was complex and had a few advanced techniques that Aziz needed to master down.

Aziz says, “Tryouts were nerve-wracking because it has been my goal to be the first chair again ever since sophomore year. I wanted to prove to myself that I wouldn’t let nerves get the best of my performance.”

“The thing to keep in mind is that sometimes we need a little bit of nervous energy to motivate ourselves to put our all in a single performance.”
By: Aya Aziz

Aziz feels amazing for getting first chair for the first second time in a TKMEA concert. It was a sweet victory and a reminder for Aziz to keep working hard in order to achieve her goals and dreams. Aziz enjoyed the whole experience of TKMEA and it was, in fact, her favorite because she loved the music choice, especially “Benjamin’s Simple Symphony”, the people surrounding her, and the friendly conductor, Dr. Wachs. It felt great for Aziz to be able to play a new piece which became one of her favorites. Aziz was able to balance TKMEA, the orchestra at school, and homework efficiently because since the concert was in late January she was able to devote most of her practice hours during winter break.

Aziz’s advice for incoming freshmen would be to make the most of the opportunity to grow as a musician that TKMEA presents. Aziz says, “I really encourage freshmen to put all their effort not only to practice the audition but to listen to the concert music after and learn to connect with it.

“There is no better feeling than to be on stage and forget the crowd, and just feel the music overwhelm you while listening to the beat and yourself.”
By: Aya Aziz

Aya Aziz ’20 playing her violin during a solo

I also had the chance to talk to Mr. Yokota, the orchestra teacher here at Redwood, and he was very proud of Roper and Aziz getting first chair, “They played very well at the concert, worked hard, and are great leaders for the orchestra.” Mr. Yokota continued to say, “They deserved first chair because they worked really hard on and off-campus, and they both played very well on their solos.”

Yokota did prepare his students a little bit for the auditions and the concert because the majority of his students were accepted into the TKMEA, however, most of the practice was on their own at home.

Yokota does jot require his students to try out for the TKMEA, but he highly encourages his students to try out because, “Redwood always has a big representation so it’s good to continue to represent our school, and it’s fun to have a lot of numbers go together because it’s a good bonding experience overall. Having a different conductor and playing with other people from different schools is a really fun and memorable experience.