Students excel at State Music Festival

HELENA – Of the seven individuals and groups from Seeley-Swan High School that went to the State Music Festival in Helena May 3 and 4, four received the highest superior rating while the other three received an excellent.

At the State Music Festival the students performed in one-hour blocks of five different performances ranging from solos, duets to small ensembles, all vocal and instrumental. Instead of playing their piece and leaving like at Districts, the students are expected to stay for the full hour to hear performers from different schools and listen to the feedback from the adjudicators. 

"It is a good learning opportunity for them," said Sandra Abbott, SSHS Music Director. "I know they were very nervous and that is completely normal."

Junior Jayla Kauffman said that it was good to be able to listen to other people and it helped her learn new things.

"If you hear something you like you can try and copy what the other person is doing," said Kauffman.

"It's worth [listening to others] because everyone who is at State is usually a good player so you enjoy listening to their piece," said Kovatch. "The people who are there you can tell have definitely been practicing and playing for a long time. The level of competition is much higher at state."

Senior Lane Mackie-Wendel was the only SSHS vocalist that received a superior at State. After missing State by one point last year, Mackie-Wendel was excited about his first year.

Mackie-Wendel sang "Bright Morning Stars, a Kentucky Folk Song" arranged by Jay Althouse. While he didn't think he sounded that good, he was pleasantly surprised after hearing a recording. Then he found out he received the top rating of superior

"I was ecstatic," said Mackie-Wendel. "I was like, Wow, I didn't do that bad."

Mackie-Wendel said that at Districts his adjudicator told him to work on his breathing, not hold his hands in front of himself and to not look at the accompanist. Following Districts, he learned how to tighten his core which helped him hold his breath longer.

"I fixed all of those," said Mackie-Wendel. "It was nerve wracking going into it because I've never really sang a solo before. But I ended up doing better than I thought."

The adjudicator complimented Mackie-Wendel on his "nice voice."

Jayla Kauffman was the other soloist who received a superior. She played a trombone solo "My Regards" by Edward Llewellyn. She said after Districts she worked on hitting the high notes with more consistency and articulations. She said she did better at both of those things in her State performance.

Her adjudicator commented, "Excellent work. Keep playing."

The SSHS Wind/Brass Ensemble with Jared Townsend, Kauffman, Kinley Moore and Klaire Kovatch received a superior for their performance of "Volta, A Baroque Dance" by Michael Praetorius.

Kovatch said they really worked as an ensemble to keep the tempo steady and not slow down through the middle section.

"We put in a lot of hard work for it and it ended up paying off," said Townsend. "We used the adjudicators' advice [from Districts] and changed some of our strategies we took to complete the piece. It was big for us to keep in time, but all the adjudicators were very impressed with our tone and blend of sound."

The adjudicator said they were a nice looking group and did an excellent job. 

The SSHS brass duet with Townsend and Kauffman played "Introduction and Invention" by Frank J. Halferty. This was the first time the adjudicator had heard their piece and he really liked their choice. Other comments he made included: "Nice opening.  Well balanced with great intonation. Very musically played." 

Other soloists who received excellent ratings at State were Townsend on his trumpet solo, Kovtach's clarinet solo and Kauffman's vocal solo.

"I am so proud of all of them," wrote Sandy Abbott, SSHS Music Director. "They worked hard to get to state and it is an honor for them to be able to be heard and given feedback at the state level."