On Saturday, Feb 8, LEE band students competed in the Solo and Ensemble contest at Davenport High School, and 23 of those students are headed to state competition. Additionally, five students received a gold medal, and 16 received a Rating of Excellent.
During a Solo and Ensemble contest, students have to practice and learn a solo, or they can play a piece with several different parts in a duet, trio, or quartet. There are also large percussion ensembles that compete, and there were two from our school entitled On The Horizon and Cosmic Whirlwind.
“Being a part of a percussion ensemble is a lot of fun and it’s a good way for us to hone our skills in a different way than in marching band or concert band,” junior percussionist, Isabella Duke, said.
Solo and Ensemble is a great way for students to test their musical skills, and challenge themselves to do better. “It was fun, there were a lot of people from the same school as us preparing…we had to put in about 3-4 months of work in, and each time you get faster and faster until you get up to tempo,” senior saxophone soloist, Russel Hughes, said.
The band directors generally don’t have much to do with the Solo and Ensemble contest, due to it being an independent event, but the pride they have for their students still shines. “We are proud of their effort to choose their piece of music, memorize it and perform it to advance to the state level,” percussion band director, Victoria Watson, said in her congratulatory email. “Ensembles take much time to work together (like a project) and although they do not have to be memorized, students must learn how their parts fit together to perform at the highest level.”
Congratulations to Russell Hughes, Lauren DeHart, Bella Duke, Angelina Hurtado, Josiah Walker, Cora Magadance, Adrian Estrada, Katherine Giblin, Anne McCusker, Jacob Peralta, Isabel Hernandez, Johnathan Hernandez, Diego Hoenigman, Alex Ngo, Ryan Perez, Julian Pinheiro, Sophia Dobropolski, Aaliyah Romero, Luke Ryan, Lilly Sanchez, and Christian Westmoreland for advancing to state.
