Columbia, Missouri - Emily Johns had the honors of earning 4th Chair French Horn at the 2016 - 2017 Missouri All-State Concert Band auditions in Columbia, Missouri on Saturday, December 3, 2016.

Only 8 French Horns and 2 alternates were accepted to this prestigious ensemble. The Missouri Music Educators Association in cooperation with the Missouri Bandmasters Association, Missouri Association for Jazz Education, American String Teachers Association, and the American Choral Directors Association will present an All-Festival Concert at Tan-Tar-A Resort in January 2017.

Emily is the daughter of Kevin and Janet Johns and is a senior at Dexter High School.

She earned Honorable Mention at State her sophomore and junior years in high school.

"It has been a goal of mine to finally make the All-State Band," commented Johns.  "I have been playing the French Horn for about 6 1/2 years now and I practice about 1 to 1 1/2 hours a day."

When asked how did the judges decide on your musical skill and ability Johns said, "We were given sheet music to learn prior to the auditions and then the judges chose etudes or parts of the music for us to play. We didn't know what they would choose plus we had to learn all of our music scales."