BU students make All-State band

SUGAR GROVE - Not only was the recent Ohio All-State Band concert one of the best concerts Berne Union senior Ashley Venrick had ever been to, she also got to perform in it.

"It was just fantastic," she said of the late January concert at the Duke Energy Center in Cincinnati.

She and Berne Union sophomore Andrew Ribo were accepted in the all-state band after undergoing a competitive audition. BU band director J.D. Latorre nominated the pair.

Venrick plays the French horn and Ribo plays the euphonium. That latter instrument sounds like a cross between a trombone and a tuba.

"My experience was fantastic," Ribo said of the concert. "I already had some of my friends from other honor bands, namely the Ohio University honor band, who are also in the all-state band. I got to come and and talk with them so I didn't have to meet entirely new people. They had a fantastic repertoire picked out.

"Usually, euphonium parts are pretty easy and somewhat boring. But all of these parts were either technically challenging that I had to focus specifically on that part, or they were so high that there's a lot of work just getting the range up to there."

Venrick and Ribo played six selections with the all-state band, including John Mackey's "Aurora Awakes" and Henry Fillmore's arrangement of the national anthem.

"I would encourage anyone who loves music to audition for the all-state band," Venrick said. "Because it was probably the best experience of my life."

While Ribo still has two more years of high school after this one, Venrick plans to go to college and major in music education next year. She said the University of Toledo is the probable destination. Besides the French horn, she plays the trumpet, percussion and keyboard instruments, piano and guitar, along with singing.

Both Ribo and Venrick enjoy listening to music, as well as playing it. Ribo likes contemporary classical music, acapella pop and alternative rock music. He said those listening to classical music should take it as it comes.

"Classical music, a lot of it is, depending on what you're listening to, can be quite boring from a listener's perspective," Ribo said. "But you have to take it like someone who drinks coffee, for example. People who drink it a lot are very particular about it because they like different tastes and different nuances to it. A lot of classical music has different tastes and nuances to it and as you listen to it a lot, you start to get an appreciation for those different nuances and the ways different composers do things."

Venrick said she'll listen to anything, including horn soloists and country music.

jbarron@lancastereaglegazette.com

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Twitter: @JeffDBarron