Students of the St. Louis High School band traveled to St. Johns High School to take part in an event called Solo and Ensemble, Feb. 10.
A number of students chose to take part in an optional event in which they performed a tune at exactly two minutes. The tune cannot go over or under two minutes as it was stated in the rules. Multiple students chose to take part in a duet, a huge group, and also a solo. Some of the students who played a solo were McKenzie Smith, Hannah Bobzien, Rachel Jewell, and Rebekah Ross. The duets were performed by Tori Patterson and Rachel Jewell, and Hannah Bozien and Rebekah Ross. The only octet group consisted of Liv Good, Lilly Massaway, Tori Patterson, Rowan Harris, Rachel Jewell, Noah Buchanan, Alexis Hitsman, and Brighton Buchanan.
One brass student, Rebekah Ross, shared her experience, “Both of my performances went amazing! First, my duet was with Hannah, where we got a one rating. Later in my solo, I also got one. With both performances, I got really good tips and reminders about all the pieces I played. Honestly, not much went wrong. I accidentally played A flat instead of B flat, but other than that, everything went really smooth and I’m very excited for states.” Not only did Ross share her thoughts, but senior Rowan Harris also provided her opinions. According to Harris, “I was very nervous leading up to the performance since it was a new school, but during the performance itself, I was locked in. Though I think there was nothing wrong, the judge said my part was really quiet, though it wasn’t my fault. But the judges didn’t have any complaints.”
All participants received a score of one and got a medal to show off their accomplishment. The state Solo and Ensemble will take place Mar. 16, and the students will showcase their final performances.
