Justin Berry Woodwind Studio Music Lessons

Congratulations to all of my students that auditioned for the Wake County All District! These are some hard working kids! Some will not be attending the clinic due to the date being moved because of the snow, but all earned their spots through hard work and dedication to their art!

Thanks as well to the band directors and parents that help these kids succeed every day:).

Please join me in a belated congratulations to my hard working middle school students who made the All County Band😀. These are some of the best players in North Carolina and an absolute joy to work with!

Belated congratulations to my hard working students that made All State North Carolina this year! Nice work, Y'all:)

I’m so proud of the hard work my students put in this semester! I have the pleasure of working with a lot of very talented kids that come from programs with the best band directors in the area:).

GO KIDS!



All District Results 2024-2025:

Middle School:
TOP BAND
1st Tenor Sax- Jack
1st Bass Clarinet- Noah
3rd Alto Sax- Julia
4th Alto Sax- Blake
11th Clarinet- Ryan
17th Clarinet- Emily

SECOND BAND
3rd Alto Sax (also selected for 7th Flute)- Ayaan

HONORABLE MENTION
1st Alternate Alto Sax- Elijah
2nd Alternate Alto Sax- Nick
2nd Alt. Bass Clarinet- Ashley

ALL REGION JAZZ
B Band:
1st Alto- Blake
2nd Alto- Jack
2nd Tenor- Ashley

Grade 9-10:

1st Tenor Sax (also 10th clarinet)- Leyton
2nd Tenor Sax- Caitlyn
3rd Bass Clarinet- Sitara
4th Bass Clarinet- Sidarth

HONORABLE MENTION
Alto Saxes
1st Alternate- Srimayi
2nd Alternate- Owen
3rd Alternate- Bowen
4th Alernate- Kaden

Grade 11-12:
TOP BAND
1st Tenor Sax- Luke
1st Bass Clarinet- Ryan

SECOND BAND
1st Bass Clarinet (10th Clarinet)- Mathew
2nd Bass Clarinet- Claire
4th Alto Sax- Ian

Honorable Mention
2nd Alternate Alto Sax- Alan

Congratulations to my middle school students that participated in the Wake County Auditions this year! Everyone worked very hard and learned about setting short and long term goals in addition to what it is like to perform under pressureJ

The following students deserve special recognition. Go kids!

Aayan 9th Flute
Ryan 5th Clarinet
Jack 2nd Alto Sax
Blake 4th Alto Sax
Noah 1st Bass Clarinet
Ashley 2nd Bass Clarinet

2 0f the best saxophone players I worked with in Tucson had careers in other fields in addition to music- and both had personalized license plates. I tell my talented music students that are conflicted about wanting to study non-musical disciplines in college that they can still be very good musicians while working as doctors, lawyers, scientists, etc- and I use these guys as an example. The first, had a license plate that read “SAXNBAX”- chiropractor Gary Love. The other had a license plate that read “SAXNTAX”- accountant Kevin Shumaker.

I’ve puzzled for years about how I could join their ranks, but nothing in Speech Pathology rhymes with Sax in any meaningful way. After over a decade of pondering, I finally realized that I was thinking about it all wrong. I need to make Sax rhyme with the “P” in SLP. My plates arrived today:)

Very sad to hear about the passing of Hepcat vocalist Greg Lee. Of all of the bands that were active at that time, the more traditional ska acts like Hepcat, The Slackers, and Let’s Go Bowling were my favorite.

I remember the first time my band opened for them at I Hung Out at the DPC (Downtown Performance Center) in Tucson, AZ. It would have been 1994ish. They rolled up in a 15 passenger van with a smallish trailer. After unloading, they sat around the extremely out of tune piano and practiced their vocal harmonies for half an hour. I was humbled by their dedication and schooled on what it meant to take the art of pop music seriously. They are still one of my biggest influences.

Thank you Greg and crew:)

Here’s one of my favorite tunes of theirs:

I Can't Wait Provided to YouTube by EpitaphI Can't Wait · HepcatRight On Time℗ Hellcat RecordsReleased on: 1998-01-20Music Publisher: Tacpeh Music (ASCAP) /Dr Zeuss Musi...

My students did great at the All State competitions this year. In addition to having some of the best tenor players in the state, my alto sax and bass clarinet students also did well! Go kids!

All State Concert Band:

9-10 High School
1st alto Srimayi
1st tenor Luke
2nd bass clarinet Ryan

11-12 High School
1st tenor Vohn

All State Jazz:
MS
2nd Tenor Harlan
1st Alternate Tenor- Adam

Congratulations to all of my students who participated in the All Region Jazz and All District Auditions this year! Everyone should be proud of the hard work they put in this year.

Thanks to all of the wonderful band teachers and parents that support the kids and make all of this possible:)

Special shout outs to Luka and Sofia, who are graduating seniors and did not participate this year because they had too many art school auditions going on. Best of luck to both of you, and I will miss your prodigious talent:)

Here are the results from Justin Berry Woodwind Studio Music Lessons. Yay kids!

All-District Band

Middle School Audtions:

Top Band:
4th Alto Sax- Bowen
13th Clarinet- Emily

Second Band:
1st Tenor Sax- Adam
2nd Alto Sax- Harlan
2nd Bass Clarinet- Noah
17th Clarinet- Ryan

9-10 High School
1st Alto Sax- Srimayi
4th Alto Sax- Andrew
1st Tenor Sax-Luke
1st Bass Clarinet- Ryan

1st Alternate Flute- Tanya

11-12 High School

Top Band
1st Tenor Sax (also scored 2nd Alto Sax)- Aidan

Second Band
1st Tenor Sax- Vohn
2nd Bass Clarinet- David
7th Clarinet

1st alternate Alto Sax- Ian
2nd alternate Alto Sax- Seth
1st alternate Baritone Sax- Seth

All Region Jazz

Middle School

1st Tenor Sax (also 2nd Alto)- Harlan
3rd Alto Sax- Jack
2nd Tenor- Adam

High School

2nd Tenor Sax A Band- Vohn
Baritone Sax A Band- Seth

As is usual, I am behind on posting shameless self promotion announcements. In my defense, I’m on stage as opposed to the pit, and it’s a period piece, so I can’t just bust out an iPhone to snap some shots:)

1940’s Radio Hour is playing through 12/24 at Theatre Raleigh. It’s a family friendly frolic with some of your favorite tunes from the 40’s with an amazingly talented cast. It’s also only about 90 minutes so you can fit it in with other holiday commitments:)

As usual I am behind in congratulating my super hard working middle school students who earned top spots in the All County competition this year. Yay kids!

-3rd, 5th and 8th chair alto sax
-4th chair bass clarinet
-24th clarinet