From the Academy's Web site:
In all, 306 students attended auditions over the course of the two weekends for the Academy. They came from all over Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Montana, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.
This was by far the most thorough job that the staff has ever done in evaluating its potential members. The new mini-camp format for auditions gave the staff the opportunity to evaluate each student on an individual basis and track their progress and performance over the course of the weekend. The number of qualified applicants in attendance made it extremely difficult to make the first cuts in order to move into January with a more fixed membership.
Read more at www.arizonaacademy.org.
From the Cadets' Web site:
Extreme tempo changes, speeds up to 204 beats per minute and rhythms so challenging even the most skilled musicians are pushing their limits during rehearsals.
That's the Cadets' season opener - "Symphonic Movement," a composition of Vaclay Nelhybel - and late Saturday night the horn line, front ensemble and percussion battery pieced the entire four-minute arrangement together, creating a powerful sound and giving the corps just the push they wanted into the New Year.
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