Alejandra Maldonado is the second person in the past two years to make the all-region orchestra from Prosper High School. She also won first chair violin for the orchestra.

“So since I’m first violin, I’m concert master of the string orchestra,” Maldonado said. “I was the only person from Prosper to make Region String Orchestra.”

Originally, Maldonado did not intend on auditioning but was later convinced into changing her mind.

“I wasn’t planning on doing it because I didn’t think I had enough time to prepare for it,” Maldonado said. “But, Mr. Planks managed to persuade me.”

With only two weeks to prepare for the audition, Maldonado managed to find a schedule that helped prepare her for the audition.

“For those two whole entire weeks I tried to practice every single day for more than an hour,” Maldonado said. ” Some days I played three hours, some days two hours. If I couldn’t play that long, at least 20 minutes because even if you’re not practicing the same music, if you’re just practicing a type of music it’s going to be easier for you to play it.”

All of this practice was necessary to prepare for the long, difficult process of auditioning.

“Not a lot of people know, but this is blind auditions,” Maldonado said. “So the judges don’t see you and you don’t see them, but everybody in that room can see you playing.”

In total, the auditionees were required to play three excerpts.

“In total it was just one Etude, and then two of the excerpts,” Maldonado said. “They also don’t have you play the whole entire excerpt, they give you a cut from the excerpt and usually that is one of the harder parts of the excerpts and you’re expected to play that as best as possible.”

The Regional String Orchestra has a winter concert coming up in December.

“Basically we have one day of rehearsal, so you’re expected to practice by yourself until December 8th, that’s a Friday,” Maldonado said. “You go there and practice for three hours with the whole group, and then the next day is the concert day. You’re there all day and you have rehearsal in the morning, lunch, more rehearsal, and then concert.”