Nixa High School students are participating in district band this year and 23 made it into the bands. This is the highest number of students that Nixa has had qualify in several years, and directors and students alike said they are excited about the opportunity.

Assistant band director at Nixa High School, Erika O’Bryant, says that joining District Band can help students become better performers and musicians. 

“District band is a great opportunity to work with students from other schools and to work with a different director,” O’Bryant said. “… Another great benefit is they meet people, they meet friends.”

Junior, Junyoung Choi, says he decided to audition for District Band this year for the first time and why, he later placed 10th chair for trumpet in the highest band, the Honor Band. 

“This is going to sound really egotistical, but I think that I’m good enough to make the band, so I wanted to see what I would place in an audition setting,” Choi said.

Students in the bands say that they enjoy the comradery and fellowship that often comes with being in the program.

“[My favorite part was] I think the audition part,” Choi said. “After it was done hanging out with friends, just playing music, and doing homework together.”   

Rehearsals and performances for the bands will be at Nixa High School in the AETOS Center for the Performing Arts in January. The AETOS doesn’t officially open until February but will be open to students and school programs before then.

“They will be held in the new AETOS Performing Arts Center, or Center for the Performing Arts,” O’Bryant said. “So we’re really excited to get to host that…the district doesn’t have a ton of locations to choose from when we’re talking about putting on this event, so we’re really excited to get to host it and to get to be able to show off that facility a little bit.”