Having already qualified for Colorado All State Band his sophomore year in the concert band category, Bayfield High School tuba player Zachary Hollingsworth is ascending to the symphonic band this year.
What's the difference?
Concert band is for musicians in 1A-3A schools, while symphonic band is for musicians from any size school, and usually is made up of students from big music departments in 4A and 5A schools.
It's the first time a BHS student has been selected for the more advanced group, said Derek Smith, the BHS music director.
"We're crazy proud," he said, adding that Hollingsworth already has joined the list of musicians from BHS who has made all state every year from 2007 onward.
And he's not satisfied to just make symphonic band, he wants to take the first chair, as well.
Hollingsworth and a handful of other BHS students tried out in Cortez on Dec. 1 for All State Band. He was the only one selected, although fellow senior Nic Theobald is an alternative clarinet selection. Theobald will learn the music and be ready to attend All State March 30- April 1 in Greeley if someone can't attend.
For his tuba audition, Hollingsworth played Alte Zauberkiste, a classic German tuba piece, that had been assigned to him beforehand. Then he had to play some scales and do some sight-reading.
When the results for All State were posted, at first he looked at the list of concert band musicians and didn't see his name, so he thought he hadn't made it. Then he thought to check the symphonic list, and voila!
"Tuba is a the foundation of the band," Smith said. With Hollingsworth and Jarod Lane, the other tuba player at BHS, consistently providing the bass notes for the band, that builds a solid base for the other musicians to build on.
Hollingsworth said he tried different instruments before he joined middle school band, and he liked the deep, vibrato sound of the biggest brass instrument, "even though I don't get to play the melody," he said. At least not every often.
He does play some trombone for the BHS jazz band, but other than that, he sticks to his primary instrument.
"He's a pretty special guy here," Smith said.
Hollingsworth is the son of Jennifer and Brian Hollingsworth.
Theobald said he was pleased to be chosen as an alternate, although he was a bit disappointed not to be selected outright.
"I knew I deserved it," he said. "I tried hard, but I didn't try as hard as I could."
Theobald said he likes the clarinet because of its unique sound that lends itself to multiple genres of music. He is the son of Colleen and Steve Theobald.
