The Halls Were Alive With The Sounds Of Music!

 
IRONWOOD - Once again the halls of Luther L. Wright High School were filled with the “Sounds of Music”.
 
Saturday, the Ironwood School District and Music Director Steve Boyd, played host to the Wisconsin State Music Association Solo and Ensemble Competition.
 
The students from four school districts competed in the event hoping for a score that would propel them into the State Competition. Since this a WSMA event, the state finals will take place in Stevens Point, WI.

It was once again a great day of competition. Undoubtedly, there are some young musicians that will perform a little better than others, however, That being said, all the performers played and sang well. I would have scored the day a 60 way tie. Even though there are three classes of competition based on school grade, it does not account for how long a student has been playing, nor would it take into account if a student takes private lessons at home.

The three classes of competition

C: Easy, middle school level
B: Moderate, easy high school level
A: Difficult, advanced high school level
 
Within each class students are rated between 1(great) to 4.
In class A, there is an additional rating of 1* for those whose performance is exemplary.  These are the students that go to state.

After each performance the musicians are scored by a judge, who also critiques the performers. I was especially impressed with the critiques. You can’t scream at young artist as you might a football player, and they certainly don’t take fondly to a smack on the butt. Saturday’s judges were constructively critical when necessary, and always supportive to all the students.
 
The Judges for the competition were:
Brandon Bautz, Eagle River
Jeff Wenz, Bayfield
Mary Brendemeuhl, Alco
 
The four districts participating in Saturday’s completion were: Butternut, Hurley, Ironwood and Wakefield-Marenisco, Watersmeet School District which was also scheduled to appear cancelled at the last minute requiring that the day’s schedule be rewritten. The Nimrod’s cancellation was due to the illness of their Music Director.
 

Sandra Genisot, W/M music director brought many students to the competition in this her freshman year at Wakefield-Marenisco. It was great to see the W/M music program get back into high gear. Of course, Dan Mykkanen, Music Director of the Hurley School, Music Director Steve Boyd (Ironwood) and Denise Schroeder Choir Director (Ironwood) came with small armies of very talented musicians and singers.
 
The competition takes place in three classrooms located on two floors of building. I told Mr. Boyd that covering this great event was akin to covering the Porcupine Music Festival, only at warp speed.
 
As we’ve stated before, we live in an area with a small population, however, we also live in an area that is filled with talent. Our local schools do an excellent job of nurturing that talent. We see it at art shows and we hear it all year long at local concerts and performances. The annual Solo and Ensemble Competition is just one more event that proves the point.