This year’s All-State competition may not be having their festival, but the competition is very much alive, and the UNI School of Music held a virtual workshop on Saturday, Oct. 3 for string players to help prepare for the competition.

They made the most out of Zoom and even though it may not have been the best way to hold this workshop, it was the most effective way to do so given the current situation. Over 40 students attended this workshop and they were all split into groups according to their instrument with a UNI professor. The professor gave them a one-hour lesson about preparations for the competition in a unique setting on Zoom where the professor and the students were both playing with only the professors mic on.

Following the lesson, the students were ushered back to the main room of the meeting where they were given a brief about the new guidelines of the competition, which now includes creating an audition video. Dr Steve Sang Koh, assistant professor of Violin and Dr Alex Pershoinin, professor of bass, ran down the list and helped students know the do’s and don’ts on how to create a good audition video. They talked a lot about what the students should do to be able to create a video, what softwares should be used, equipment and techniques.

The actual festival may have been canceled, but students still have the opportunity to audition. Those who are accepted will still be given recognition as All Starters.

“I think it is great that they are still giving people the opportunity to have an audition,” said Julia Bullard, instructor of viola at UNI. “To have that experience and be recognized for the hard work everybody’s putting in on learning all of this music.”

The students were informed about what they must do in order to create a video that helps them create the best performance and does not diminish their playing. The floor was also open to students to get their questions answered. These questions ranged from questions about the video all the way up to the means through which the winners would be released. The session ended with Dr Rohde giving the students access to video lessons that the school of music had created for each instrument to help them through this difficult time.

The School of Music, and especially UNI’s orchestra under the guidance of their new director of orchestral studies, Erik Rohde, has been making a lot of progression towards going digital. Just last week they had their live virtual scholarship benefit. They have many more events planned for the future as well.

There  a lot of support from Dr Rohde who, according to Julia Bullard, professor of Viola, is beloved by the students and has been coming up with new and interesting things for the orchestra to play.

“I think all of our students, everyone thinks that they have won the lottery,” said Bullard.