by Brandi Miller for the FCT

Participating in any extracurricular activity takes time and dedication.  The hours spent after school and on weekends practicing in addition to school studies can make it difficult to balance everything and still be successful.  Red Bay freshman, Anna Jackson, recently showed it could be done with hard work and dedication.

Jackson recently had the distinct honor of participating in The University of North Alabama’s honor band.  This is an honor that many apply for, but few achieve.  Jackson had to apply and be hand selected by the university staff.  After being selected, Jackson had to take part in an audition process.  She was required to rehearse a prepared solo and then play for judges.  The judges then scored and ranked participants based on their performance.

“It’s not easy,” said Jackson.  I mean, in total, you have about eight hours of rehearsal starting at 8:30 every morning but in the end you make beautiful music with other very talented musicians.”

Once Jackson was selected, she and the other participants were placed in bands and chair positions.  They then endured hours of practice on Thursday night, Friday night, and Saturday morning.  All the practices culminated in a concert that took place at 11 a.m. on Saturday morning.

“It was a great learning experience for me,” said Jackson.  “I learned a lot more about music and my own instrument itself.”

Jackson was the thirteenth chair and the participants were from all over the state of Alabama and surrounding states.