A few weeks ago, a group of students went to play in the All-State Orchestra and Band at the Missouri Music Educators Association (MMEA), located at Tan-Tar-A resort.

Although they were only gone a few days, the experience left an impression on them.
Freshman Leah Peipert, who played flute in the All-State Band, said, “It was really great to be able to play music that was a challenge, instead of every day music that wasn’t as challenging, and being in a room with 107 other musicians was a really powerful experience.”

The musicians practiced in two to three-hour chunks several times a day, including rehearsals until midnight.  “Basically, we spent three days at Tan-Tar-A, rehearsing for six to eight hours a day,” freshman flautist Maddy Goedegebuure said.  “In the beginning, it was really tiring, but we learned to make the best of the breaks we got.”

Although Goedegebuure and Peipert admitted they were exhausted, they spoke of All-State only fondly.  “School…. is tiring now,” Peipert said.  It seemed that coming back to school was more difficult to handle than the trip.

“What we hope is that we pick somebody as a conductor who motivates you,” said CHS orchestra teacher and MOASTA president-elect Ann Geiler.  “Someone who makes it so that the lack of sleep and that stress on your back of doing it is worthwhile.”

Geiler was very busy at All-State, having organized much of it and worked tirelessly for months.  She made sure everything was running smoothly and sat through most of the rehearsals.

“After the students get picked for All-State when they audition in December, the music is handed out, and at that point, the people organizing are making sure that everyone has the music,” Geiler said.  “We’re also working on logistical things, making sure that we have enough chairs down at Tan Tar A, that we’re in the right rooms, and that we have a schedule.  It’s getting all the forms in, assigning rooms, finding people to judge the seating auditions…picking up the conductor at the airport…” She pauses for breath.

“It’s a big deal and it takes a lot of work,” Geiler continues.  “There are all those things that people do so that [the musicians] can just focus on making it a good experience.”

All-State is just the tip of the iceberg.  The Missouri Music Educators Association, or MMEA, has a conference located every year at Tan-Tar-A.  “We fill up every single bit of Tan-Tar-A,” Geiler said.  “All-State, if you have kids in it, is probably the most important thing that you go down there for, but there are hundreds of events.

“You know, it takes a lot of people and I’m not sure that everyone knows how much it takes,” Geiler said.

When I asked her if it was worth it, she told me, “You know, all the work and all the craziness and lack of sleep was worth it when you heard those kids perform, because that’s what it’s all about.  When I heard the antiphonal brass Friday night, I was telling the president, “I want to be playing!” because it was so inspiring, and those are the moments that you wait for in music.  It was totally worth it, to have that moment when you give the audience goosebumps and you think, “hey, look at this, I’m playing in an orchestra with 104 people, and we’re playing these great pieces of music with great players.”  And you don’t get that daily.”

The musicians seem to agree with Geiler.  “It was so much fun,” sophomore violist Adam Garrett said.  “Even though rehearsals were really long, it was really really worth it.  It felt pretty neat that I was able to contribute to such a cool thing.”

“In the end, even though you started out bad in the beginning, you see how beautiful the music can be,” Goedegebuure said.

Peipert said, “It was inspiring, it was fun, it was entertaining and interesting.  It was a really good experience because you were there with people who really cared about the music and worked very hard to get there.”