This last weekend Susanna got to participate in the All-State Orchestra which performed at Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City.  She auditioned in the fall and submitted the recording online.  Then a few weeks later she found out that she made it in.  It was a big orchestra--48 violins and about 120 players in the whole orchestra.  She was a first violin and was 9th stand. They did a few regional rehearsals for a few weeks before but their first rehearsal all together was on Thursday afternoon.  They practiced for about 4 hours.  Then Friday they practiced all day and then again on Saturday for a couple of hours. Their program was Adagio for Strings by Barber (I played this in college and it's really beautiful), Symphonic Dances from West Side Story (I think I played this but I'm not sure when), and "Red Dust" by a contemporary composer who was commissioned by the Utah Symphony to compose this piece about Utah.  Their conductor was a young man,...