Band, orchestra and choir advancing to state

Isis Frazier, Reporter
April 8, 2015

Band, orchestra and choir recently performed to decide if they would advance to state.

BAND

The district competition for band took place in Mustang on March 7.

Both the woodwind trio and brass quartets were graded with a superior rating and will advance to State.

The woodwind trio includes seniors Allegra Knight and Mitchel Williams and junior Claire Widmer. Knight also advanced to state with a superior rating for her oboe solo.

“Allegra is taking her oboe solo to state and the judge said that she was just on a different level than everyone he heard that day,” said band and orchestra director Kelli Taylor.

Knight is very excited about going to state.

“I worked so hard on the music and my goal was to get first-chair All-State Orchestra. I kept my eyes on that and practiced really hard and I reached my goal. Nothing feels better than working hard at something and reaching that goal,” Knight said.

Ryan Biggers, Daniel Heckman, Amoree Wagner, Guillaume Saaty make up the bass quartet.

“It was nice to know that we were going to state despite the fact that my solo was terrible,” said Heckman. “With the quartet, I’m not really that nervous because you have the ability to look at the music and you’re also with three other people so it doesn’t feel like the judges are looking into your soul. For my solo, I was absolutely nervous. In comparison, my nerves were much higher.”
ORCHESTRA

The members of orchestra have had a great success with three soloists and five ensembles advancing to state.

“I’m very excited about going to state,” said junior Seth Hill. “I’m proud of everyone and how hard we worked.”

Hill plays the violin in the orchestra’s octet and received a superior rating.

“Right now, we just practice [for state competition] after school because we have to focus on things for our concerts. I have alone time to practice by myself at home,” Hill said.

Tien Huynh is a sophomore who played a violin solo with an excellent rating.

“I eat a banana before performances because potassium makes me less nervous,” Huynh said.

Complications with her instrument caused some of the nerves.

“I had dynamic issues and my E string was out of tune. I was really nervous but the judge was nice and helped me tune it. I also had a memory slip but I recovered,” Huynh said.

CHOIR

Choir traveled to South Nazarene University to compete among other schools to advance to state as well.

“Last year we were able to go to state competition but we just had an average score that let us move on but this year, we got the top scores we could on stage from every judge,” said choir director Laura Gilson.

Gilson has four boys that received superior ratings and will be advancing to state.

“I thought that if they performed the way they’ve been practicing, they were going to move on to state,” she said.

Due to recent snow days, many of the competitions were cancelled then rescheduled.

“We kept thinking we were going to go to contest but then it would get cancelled. Then we had to rally and start working again,” Gilson said.

Tristan Dow is one of the bass singers that will be going to state with the quartet.

“I was entirely nervous that I was shaking slightly,” Dow said. “I am very excited about going to state though. I’m aiming for a one on the score.”

Choir will compete in the state competition April 23rd at Oklahoma Baptist University.

“Right now, we put our pieces for state away so we don’t burn out and get tired out them and we’re working on new music for the spring concert,” Gilson said. “After Easter break, we’ll pull those pieces back out and start refreshing them for state.”

Here is the entire list of results:

Band:

Superior ratings and going to state:

Allegra Knight, oboe solo

Allegra Knight, Claire Widmer, Mitchel Williams, woodwind trio

Ryan Biggers, Daniel Heckman, Amoree Wagner, Guillaume Saaty, brass quartet

Superior rating but not state eligible:

Ramy Afzalianmand, bass clarinet solo

Excellent rating:

Lydia Sharpe, bass clarinet solo

Claire Widmer, clarinet solo

Ryan Biggers, trumpet solo

Good rating:

Daniel Heckman, trumpet solo

Orchestra:

Superior ratings and going to state:

Ariani Fife, violin solo

Chris Mathews, bass solo

Danny Nguyen, violin solo

Chris Mathews, Jacob Absher, Martin Alba, bass trio

Khiem Ngo and Zayd Soliman, violin duet

Ryan Choi, Seth Hill, Austin Thompson, Danny Nguyen, violin quartet

Elizabeth Ta, Corina Esparza, Seth Hill, Chase Leach, Joey Maher, Blake Bauer, Cerelia Larrinaga, Elizabeth Brosius, octet

Chase Leach, Khiem Ngo, Zayd Soliman, Zohaib Thayani, Austin Thompson, Brenda Galicia, Aiden Hines-Lunn, Jordan McFadden, Blake Bauer, Grayson Ware, Taryn Stevens, Alessio Hall, Alexis Keck, Jacob Absher, Martin Alba, large string ensemble

Excellent ratings:

Ryan Choi, violin solo

Greg Thompson, violin solo

Gabrielle Jones, violin solo

Tien Huynh, violin solo

Tien Huynh, Nguyen Dinh, Alessio Hall, string trio

Ryan Choi, Seth Hill, Joey Maher, Cerelia Larrinaga, string quartet

Ariani Fife, Jordan McFadden, Kathryn Donelson, Nguyen Dinh, violin quartet

Gabrielle Jones, Taryn Stevens, violin/viola duet

Erick Ruigu, Brenda Galicia, Alexis Keck, Kyra Roosa, violin/cello quartet

Choir

Superior rating and going to state: