Students in the Bob Jones High School Wind Ensemble have been working hard these past months to prepare for AMEA.

Bob Jones band director Leigh Thomas said, “AMEA stands for Alabama Music Educators Association, and it’s kind of short for ‘conference.’” During this conference, students from all over the state will be participating in clinics as well as performing for some important judges.

Ms. Thomas said, “There will be clinics, and basically it’s just professional development specifically for band directors, choral directors, and as a part of that, they have an application process that allows high school, middle school, and college ensembles with all winds, jazz, and vocal to perform as examples of high levels of music making within the state.”

What sets AMEA apart from the Music Performance Assessments (MPA), which is another exhibition for middle school and high school bands, is its length and professionalism. The conference will span over three days, the 19th to the 21st of January.

When asked about the other bands that will be attending, Ms. Thomas stated, “UAH’s wind ensemble is playing Thursday night, Oak Mountain High School’s band is playing Thursday afternoon, a couple of other good middle school jazz bands and percussion ensembles will be playing also.”

Students have been preparing for this conference for a while now. There have been many extensive practices after school, as Bob Jones High School junior and band student Elizabeth Kuebbing stated. “We practice from 4 until 8 sometimes, and last time we had one of those, we didn’t even eat during it, which was a mistake on my part because I didn’t eat before it.”

However, despite all the hard work the students have been going through, they are still excited to get out of school and compete with some of the greatest bands in the state. Elizabeth said, “I’m really excited! We get to miss some school, we’re gonna eat out, and we’re gonna play for people, and they’re going to judge us harshly because they’re all great band directors.”

The band will perform on Friday, but those interested in the performance can attend a program that will be held after the open house and college fair on Thursday the 19th at around 7:15 for parents, friends, and anybody else who would like to see it.