CONTRIBUTED PHOTO - Kylie Husak (left) and Brooks Baier (right) smile from ear to ear after the concert concluded in Hilton Coliseum.

AMES — The Iowa All-State Music festival has come and gone for another year, with representation from an STC duo and their teacher.

In late October, senior Kylie Husak on the alto saxophone and junior Brooks Baier on trombone both auditioned and earned their second entry into the festival. Husak was placed in the band while Baier joined the orchestra.

The process for auditioning for the festival is rigorous. Instrumentalists prepare scales, etudes, solos, and refine technique day in and day out. Baier has been assisted by Dr. David Williams of the University of Northern Iowa is his quest to be the best musician he can. Husak practiced vigorously after being selected as a freshman only to miss out as a sophomore and junior.

Husak talked about her journey back to the top of the musical mountain.

“To come back to All-State as a senior, and to be one of the 12 alto saxes meant so much to me, because I really felt like I gave it my all this year,” she said. “I knew I practiced as much as I could for the audition and for the chair placement audition, and to be there, let alone get second chair, showed me that all the time I spent and the things I sacrificed were all worth it.”

The sacrifice Husak talks about is abundantly clear by the data. Out of the auditioning students only 17 percent are accepted into the festival; the ensembles host 276 students in the band, 214 in the orchestra. Out of all the student musicians in Iowa, Husak and Baier are in the top two percent with their achievement.

In the vein of achievements, STC Band Director Mike Carnahan was recently recognized for his contribution to music education in the state of Iowa. Carnahan is currently in his 26th year of teaching at South Tama after first spending a five-year stint at Adair Casey.

During the festival concert inside Hilton Coliseum in Ames, music educators who have completed 30 years of teaching in the state are honored at the event with a certificate and priority seating.

When asked about his achievement, Carnahan jokingly responded, “Just means I’m old.”

After a laugh he continued, “It’s nice to be recognized, but it’s not why I do what I do. The reason I do what I do is to see things like Brooks and Kylie enjoying the weekend at All-State. It’s always for my students, helping them and seeing them grow. Seeing how music education impacts their lives, outside of just a musical sense. That is why I do what I do.”

Over the last six years, STC has had representation at the All-State music festival. What started with Husak’s older sister Katie and Joseph Withrow has now stretched on into more students.

In talking about this chain of success, Carnahan threw all praise to the students.

“To be that level of musician it goes beyond what I can do in the band room during rehearsal. It takes a unique combo of grit and drive. Six years is an impressive streak but I can’t even take half the credit. All praise to the students and their families.”

Carnahan would like to extend his thanks to his students, parents, STC administration, Chelsea Ahrens, the Iowa High School Music Association, John Loose and Teresa Smith, and his wife Sue and daughter Emily.

The concert in its entirety was aired on Thanksgiving day; the broadcast will also be posted on PBS.org at a later date.