Burnet High School clarinetist Kali Crist makes all-state band

Six years since first picking up the clarinet, Burnet High School senior Kali Crist has hit a high note.

Crist earned a spot in the coveted Association of Texas Small School Bands all-state band. She will perform with student-musicians from across the state Saturday, February 15, at the Lila Cockrell Theatre in San Antonio.

“I didn’t think it was possible to make it,” she said. “There are so many other people who work so hard.”

Crist is the first Burnet High School student to be chosen for the all-state band since tenor saxophonist Thomas Cromer in 2014. Texas has one of the largest populations of students who participate in band in the country, so it’s a competitive field.

The audition process starts at a regional meet, which is a blind audition. The five judges are behind a screen or backdrop so they cannot see the students. During her regional audition, Crist was selected to try out for the all-state band.

Crist began playing the clarinet in the sixth grade and stuck with it through middle school. As a freshman, she was 10th chair clarinet in the concert band. She moved up to first chair the next year.

She was fourth chair in school’s symphonic band her junior year. This year, she is third chair.

While clarinet is her instrument of choice, Crist also plays tenor and baritone saxophones. She plans to pursue a music education degree in college.

On January 17, Burnet High School hosted the all-region band, including Crist, as members prepared for an all-region concert the next day.

The Association of Texas Small School Bands all-state band performs during the Texas Music Educators Association Clinic and Convention, which is February 12-15 in San Antonio.

All-state band concerts are 9 a.m. and 10:10 a.m. February 15.

daniel@thepicayune.com