Every four years there is a presidential election, the Olympics take place and the Southeast Missouri State University Wind Symphony submits an audition tape to the Missouri Music Educators Association in hopes of being selected to play at its quadrennial conference.

This year, the symphony was chosen.

Out of 142 applications submitted from high schools and colleges all over the state, Southeast was one of three schools to be chosen to play in front of a live audience of 1,200 people at Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach, Mo., according to Dr. Marty Reynolds, director of bands at Southeast.

The two other schools chosen were the University of Missouri and Central Methodist University. The conference will be held Jan. 25 to 28.

The symphony was last picked in 2004, having been left off the list in 2008.

"Getting the invitation is really a big deal for our department," said Reynolds, who is in his second year at Southeast.

The MMEA Conference brings together music educators and students from different parts of the state to perform and judge other school symphonies.

Reynolds said the conference is a great recruiting opportunity because high school symphonies are in attendance as well. He added that while on the trip, the symphony will stop at a few high schools to perform and hopefully spark interest in those considering being a part of a symphony in college.

Reynolds said the conference will also offer a chance to show musicians from other parts of Missouri what the Southeast Wind Symphony has to offer.

Cameron Taylor, a senior music education and clarinet performance major, said being selected to play at the MMEA Conference is an honor.

"I think it's a real testament to what Dr. Reynolds is doing," Taylor said.

Taylor has been a part of the Southeast Wind Symphony for each of his four years at Southeast but has never had this opportunity. He said receiving the invitation is an incentive to work harder while preparing for the concert as the symphony prepares for what he referred to as "a big golden apple we're reaching for, here."

After hearing that Dr. Reynolds sent in an audition tape to the MMEA, it didn't really mean anything to him because it was just another tape. After reading on Facebook that they had been chosen to play at the conference, it hit him.

"Goodness, really? That's incredible," Taylor said he thought to himself. "I am excited. It will be a good last concert for the year. It will be nice to go out [of] the year with a bang."

A few of the selections that will be played at the MMEA Conference will be chosen from the Wind Symphony's upcoming concert at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 6 in the Donald C. Bedell Performance Hall at the River Campus. The concert will feature a diverse selection of songs. Reynolds chose pieces that the students have never played before.

"The variety is what makes it interesting," Reynolds said.

Pieces selected for the concert include "March to the Scaffold" by Hector Berlioz, which is a musical rendition of a man's march to the guillotine to be put to death and "Morning Alleluias" by Ron Nelson, which tells the story of victims after the bombing on Hiroshima, Japan, through music.