Lexi Butcher and Alex Chevalier. Photo by Rachel Anne Seymour/Bigheart Times
The Skiatook marching band has been building quite a reputation for itself. Since the team earned its way into the National Memorial Day Parade last May and brought home a slew of awards of awards in the fall, it’s no surprise that its musicians are earning their own individual honors.
Bulldog sophomore Alex Chevalier marched in the Rose Bowl Parade and junior Lexi Butcher nabbed a spot on the All-State band.
Chevalier, a trumpet player whose father is the Skiatook band director, was one of 300 band members to march in the Rose Bowl Parade and at Disneyland. He competed against other students on a national level. Butcher, one of 24 clarinet players on the All-State band, competed against 3,000 other students for the 111 person band. While Chevalier also tried out for All-State and made it into the second of four rounds, sophomores rarely make the final cut.
“It’s brutal for sophomore,” Band Director Rusty Chevalier says. The All-State band is mostly composed of juniors and senior.
The first and second rounds of tryouts are in November, but students receive the music in May so they can begin practicing. If they make it past the first two rounds they get new music they have to learn before the December rounds. “That’s when it gets really intense,” Butcher says.
After the final round in December, students wait until the final list is posted.
The Bigheart Times is a weekly newspaper based out of Barnsdall, Okla. We cover the great Osage County, home to the Osage Nation, rural communities, and many cowboys and ranchers. As one of the largest and still growing publications in Osage County our goal is to provide fair and accurate information to the public as quickly as possible.
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