Senior saxophone player Joseph Johnston was selected to compete in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) state band concert this year, making Joseph the first Corry student in eight years to reach this amazing feat.

Joseph recently competed at districts and finished second, then he went to regions and finished second, and now he is set to compete again Thursday, April 23, at the Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg, PA.

I went and talked to Joseph to discuss everything: past, present, and future. He has been playing saxophone since fourth grade but really saw himself as a serious player during his junior year. He also competes in chorus and jazz along with band and in chorus these past two years he went all the way to regions.

In band, he went to districts as a sophomore, his junior year he was one off of states, and now he’s headed there. On his way to states this year, he has been practicing for four periods a day for four weeks leading up to the competition, which is roughly 100 hours just in school.

In PMEA, it begins with the teachers; as it is the “educators association,” who get together at festivals to make music in friendly competition. It starts with districts, where Joseph finished second. PMEA takes the top four to regions. At regions, he finished second again, and PMEA takes the top two to states.

Prior to these competitions, artists are given a sheet of a variety of things that they might be tasked to perform, so they need to be ready for just about anything, and they don’t know what they’re performing until about an hour before the actual competition. So, for advice, Joseph said that band and performing is primarily about consistency. Practice and consistency leave failure only to nerves, which you can control.

Joseph said his favorite part of his whole journey is that even though he must perform in an exact and formulaic way, he is given a platform for creative expression. The practice and work he put in has given him a way to express himself freely, as playing has become second nature. This creativity to him seems almost intimate and spiritual.

Joseph Johnston also is now in a band from Edinboro called 3 Way Street, which has always been a dream for him and it came earlier than he could have ever expected.

He also gave major credit to band director Mr. McCray, his sax teacher Mr. Vincent, his parents, peers, and the competition pushing him.

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Joseph Johnston and Mr. McCray