A few members of the St. Louis high school band participated in a solo & ensemble competition at Bay City Central Saturday, Feb. 8, 2020.

The competition is held yearly, and this year Bay City Central was selected to host it. During the competition, a student or group of students chooses a certain piece of music to perform. Once they perform, they are critiqued and then rated by the instructor. The ratings were based on a 1-4 scale and people who received a one or two were given medals.

 Kelsey Rush is currently a senior at the Shark Tank. She performed alongside Keira Hopkins-Deline during the competition. The group was able to earn a two rating on their performance. Rush said, “It was very nerve-racking, but I felt good about myself and our performance. After, I got super nervous when our rating was coming up. Overall, it was a great experience, and I had a lot of fun.”

A total of three groups and seven students from St. Louis performed at the competition. Two out of the three groups medaled. The group that did not medal consisted of Demetrius Alspaugh and Will Howey. They were given a three meaning they were one away from earning a medal. Alspaugh commented, “I think that Will and I performed very well, and we are ready to go again next year.”

Brooklyn Shrader and her group performed very well and earned themselves a two out of four. Shrader stated, “I had a lot of fun, and I wasn’t as nervous about it compared to the rest of our members. I felt kind of weird because all of the people performing with me were freshmen.  We went to the arcade before the performance to get our minds off things. Then afterward we went to Burger King. Overall, it was a great experience, and I had a fun time.”