All-State Honor Band members celebrated

Each year sophomore, junior and senior band students from across the state in Class 4A and below are eligible to audition for the Oklahoma Small School Band Directors Association (OSSBDA) All-State Honor Band.

Audition materials are made available to students in the late spring. In the fall, the students travel to Tuttle High School for auditions. If the student makes it through audtions they are awarded the title of OSSBDA All-State. This places the student in the top one percent of the state’s band students in Class 4A and below. They will be attending clinics and performing a concert on Feb. 15, 2025 at Oklahoma City University.

This year, three Comanche High School students - Rylan Shelby, J.D. Hensley and Morgan Middick - were selected to the band. Sunday at the winter concert, Shelby and Hensley were presented with All-State jackets and Middick was presented with a patch to add to hers.

Shelby, a sophomore, earned second chair euphonium. Hensley, a junior, earned sixth chair tuba and Middick earned second chair French horn. This marks the third year that Middck has earned the title of OSSBDA All-State.

The three also auditioned for OKMEA All-State. The OKMEA  band includes students from all school classifications with three rounds of auditions.

Hensley made it to the second round of auditions, placing him in the top 50 tuba players in the state. Shelby made it to the third round, placing him in the top 24 euphonium players.

For the second year in a row, Middick made the honor band, earning fifth chair in Wind Band, placing her in the top five French horn players in the state. Her selection in 2023 was the first for Comanche since 1999.