After playing the tuba for 6 years, senior Brandon Mooney is finally completing the long process of participating in the PMEA All-State Band on April 21  at 10:30 AM at J.P. McCaskey High School in Lancaster.

Mooney said, “I’m excited because this is the second time I will be participating in state band. However, I’m also sad because I haven’t been involved in PMEA for too long, and I’m a senior this year.”

It first started when he auditioned to be one of the students Big Spring sent to the PMEA District 7 Band, and was selected. The concert took place on January 13. On January 11 he had to go through the audition process to see if he would move on to Region V Concert Band.

Prior to the audition he was given a folder containing the festival music that he had to learn, and then during the audition he was asked to play one song of their choosing. He also had to learn the music that the band would be playing for each concert after he was accepted.

Because he was placed in a high enough chair at his audition, he was able to move on to regional band. There, went through the audition process again to be accepted into state band. The Region V Concert was on February 24th.

This is the second time Mooney will be in the PMEA All-State Band. He said, “My first year I went to Region Band, and I was not expecting to achieve a high chair. I was then surprised that I had achieved as high as I did.”

His band instructor, Adam Nobile, said, “I wasn’t surprised at all when I found out Brandon made it to state band because he had made it last year. I knew he worked hard for it this year, and I was hoping he would earn that distinction again. This wasn’t something that was just handed to him. I am sure he will go on to do great things with music in the future.”