by Nils Pearson (Posted on April 16, 2026 @ 8:32 a.m.)

Recently, the Alamo Heights orchestra played at UIL. They received 1s in all categories. You may be confused about what this means. What is UIL, and how does it work? This article will explain it all.

UIL is the University Interscholastic League. It runs all sorts of high school competitions, from swimming and diving to marching band—almost every high school contest in Texas. For this article, we will focus exclusively on the orchestral branch.

The first competition is the concert. Schools get to choose three preferred songs from the prescribed music list. Once the three pieces are chosen, they can be practiced as much or as little as desired until the event. Once at the event, the school plays the three songs in front of judges. The judges rate their playing as a full orchestra on a scale of 1–5, with 1 being the best and 5 being the worst. The judges base their decision on five factors: tone quality, intonation, rhythm, musical expression, and technique. Tone quality is the overall sound and consistency of the notes being played. Intonation is the accuracy of pitch and blending of chords. Rhythm is the ability to play at a constant speed or change speed as needed. Musical expression is the emotion in the music; clearly differentiating between soft and loud parts is the key. Lastly, technique is how you play the instrument. Clean bow strokes and accuracy are what you need.

After the concert, students transition into the sight-reading section. The goal of sight-reading is to show musical literacy. The orchestra is given a piece of music they have never seen before. They get a few minutes to look over the music before playing it in front of judges. To achieve a perfect score of 1, the orchestra must do three things right: They need to play as a group, blending seamlessly. They also need to maintain the correct tempo and play dynamics as written. Most importantly, the orchestra needs to play correct notes. If all is done correctly, a 1 will be awarded.