After nearly two months of preparation, the hard work paid off for students as many of them brought home top honors. One student received a "III" or fair rating, four earned a "II" or good rating, 21 received a "I" or excellent rating, 19 achieved a "I+" or superior rating, and one eighth-grade student - Bobby Dearden - was named outstanding performer.
Since January, students have been working on polishing their musical selections for the contests under the direction of BMS Band Director Dalene O'Brien. Students also spent many hours in lessons with Boone elementary band director Paul Navara and United Community School elementary band director Rose Kundel.
O'Brien said there were three different reasons that students participate in solo and ensemble contests: seventh-grade students who are further along in their lesson books are selected by invite only, eighth-graders have the option to volunteer in contests, and a small section of eighth-grade students are required to take part since it is part of the curriculum for their class.
O'Brien said there is a lot that students gain from the experience.
"In the end, they end up gaining so much self-confidence from doing it, so I think there is a lot to be gained from it," she said.
During the performance aspect of the contest, students entered a contest center with both an audience and a judge. As the students performed, the judge evaluated their overall performance with a copy of each student's musical selection in order to properly identify if students were playing correctly.
Following the performance, each student received their rating, a medal and also constructive comments from the judge.
"The judge writes out a ballot for them that gives them positive feedback and highlights areas that they could work on to improve," O'Brien said.
Overall, O'Brien said students performed at a very high level and showed a large degree of dedication by going above and beyond, spending extra hours practicing outside of the classroom.
"I thought they performed really well," she said. "I was just very, very pleased with the performance of the students."
O'Brien said that ensembles allow students the opportunity to work together while solo performances make students more independent.
"It really boosts their self-confidence," she said. "It is also a big boost to their independence in playing. They're the only person playing their part, where in band they may sit in an entire section of clarinets where several people are playing the same part as they are."
Dearden, who was named the outstanding performer for his contest center, performed "Asleep in the Deep" by Henry W. Petrie.
Generally, at the high school level, one outstanding performer is selected from each center. However, it differs at the middle school level. At Norwalk, one outstanding performer was selected in the morning, and Dearden was selected as the afternoon's outstanding performer.
Though criteria differs for each udge, O'Brien said judges typically look for students who have learned their performance pieces to a high level, playing an almost mistake-free performance while avoiding note and rhythm mistakes and playing the correct tempo.
After having a conversation with the judge, O'Brien said it was clear why Dearden was selected as an outstanding performer.
"He said that it is very rare to find a middle school trombone player that does such a good job of fine tuning intonation to match the piano," she said. "That's one thing that Bobby did that really impressed him."
After receiving such high recognition, O'Brien said that Dearden, who is a first-year trombonist in concert and jazz band, has many more successes in front of him.
"He really has a bright future as a trombonist and other people are recognizing it, it's not just his teacher saying that," she said.
Other participants and their respective ratings are as follows:
|
|
Baritone saxophone/baritone duet: 8th-graders Zach Drouard and Jacob North.
Good or "II" ratings
Jason Sellers, 7th grade, trumpet solo; Jacob North, 8th grade, baritone solo; flute/clarinet duet: 8th-graders Kayla Nedved and Sydney Heyer; clarinet/tenor saxophone duet: 8th-graders Bill Cary and Logan Hull.
Excellent or "I" ratings
Megan Dannen, 7th grade, flute solo; Hannah Wailes, 7th grade, flute solo; Bethany Brewer, 7th grade, flute solo; Maggie Orey, 7th grade, clarinet solo; Jessie Soderstrum, 7th grade baritone saxophone solo; Rachel Haynes, 7th grade, French horn solo; Raine Welterlen, 7th grade, trumpet solo; Abbie Freeman, 7th grade, trumpet solo; Nick DeReus, 7th grade, trumpet solo; Carissa Brown, 8th grade, flute solo; Seth Woolston, 8th grade, trumpet solo; Karen Kiesel, 8th grade, snare drum solo; flute duet: 8th-graders Valerie Zinnel and Carissa Brown; flute/xylophone duet: 8th graders Alyssa McCabe and Karen Kiesel; tuba duet: 8th-graders Andy Hull and Greg Hamilton; trumpet duet: 8th-graders Jack LaFollette and Kirby Johnson; saxophone quartet: 8th-graders Taylor DeJong, Wyatt Powers, Logan Hull and Zach Drouard; flute/clarinet duet: 8th-graders Alyssa McCabe and Bill Carey; brass trio: Seth Woolston, Drew Weers and Greg Hamilton; bass quartet: Kirby Johnson, Thomas Alexander, Conner Petersen and Max McCubbin; trombone duet: 8th-graders Bobby Dearden and Drew Weers.
Superior or "I+" ratings
Alicia Runyan, 7th grade, flute solo; Gabrielle Woods, 7th grade, flute solo; Josie Wyrick, 7th grade, clarinet solo; Mason Hartwig, 7th grade, clarinet solo; Zoeie Gustoff, 7th grade, clarinet solo; Samantha McIlwain, 7th grade, alto saxophone solo; Tyler Peterson, 7th grade, trumpet solo; Kayla Nedved, 8th grade, flute solo; Kathleen Embrey, 8th grade, flute solo; Laura Martin, 8th grade, clarinet solo; Andrew Swanson, 8th grade, xylophone solo; Dana Kokjohn, 7th grade, xylophone solo; Eddie Smith, 7th grade, xylophone solo; Ben O'Neal, 7th grade, snare drum solo; Elizabeth Sterenberg, 7th grade, snare drum solo; Bobby Dearden, 8th grade, trombone solo; flute/clarinet duet: 8th-graders Kathleen Embrey and Laura Martin; trombone trio: 8th-graders Drew Weers, Conner Petersen and Max McCubbin; alto saxophone duet: 8th-graders Wyatt Powers and Taylor DeJong.
Reach staff writer Matt Oliver at moliver@newsrepublican.com
