On March 11, the WSMA District Music Festival was held at North High School. Students from North High, Manitowoc Lincoln High, Wilson Junior High, Washington Junior High, Sheboygan Falls High, and South High all competed in a competition to show off their musical talents. South students competed in individual events (solos), group events (duets, trios, quartets, etc), and ensembles (jazz bands, show choirs, etc) with a total of 128 entries and have been practicing their music since the beginning of January.

While this amount of prep time has been stressful in the past, the changes in scheduling and Flex Mod have made things much harder to rehearse. Band Director Wade Heinen stated,

“The most challenging part of WSMA this year has been assisting and encouraging small ensembles to find times to rehearse.  Having one lesson rehearsal a week has cut out as many opportunities to rehearse during the class times.” Other students voiced the same concerns. Freshman Alyssa King shared,

“It was very difficult to get together with my duet partner since we have very different schedules.”

Other students found the technical aspects of Solo and Ensemble contest challenging. For example, Senior Zachary Kaffine shared,

“Practicing is so difficult. I can hear every part in my head, but I can’t play it perfectly which gets frustrating.” For Junior Karlos De La Cruz, memorizing his words was the most difficult.

“Getting the melody is easy,” explained De La Cruz, “However remembering the order of the words and some of the small changes between verses is very challenging. It’s also hard to keep the words straight for several different songs.” Sophomore Cheng Xiong shared that the key signatures and technical aspects of the piece was very difficult.

“Playing the song correctly with the flats and the 3rd position shifts made things very challenging.”

Through all the stress and difficulties, the students still manage to keep a positive attitude. Most students look forward to playing for a judge and hearing what that professional has to say. Sophomore Savannah Ellis said,

“I enjoy hearing my critiques. This way I know what I need to work on and I can improve as a musician.” In addition to these critiques, students can receive medals (gold, silver, or bronze) depending on how well they performed.

“It’s not all about winning, however,” shared Freshman Mandy Xiong. “It’s mostly about having fun with friends and being proud with what we have accomplished.”

At WSMA Solo and Ensemble Contest, performances are broken up into classes; Class A, Class B, and Class C. Class A pieces are the most difficult pieces to perform, however these performances have a chance to advance on to WSMA State Solo and Ensemble Contest if they receive a high enough score. There are a total of 24 entries advancing on to State from South High. Good luck to everyone advancing on to State and congratulations to everyone who participated in WSMA Solo and Ensemble Contest this past weekend. You all did an outstanding job and were positive competitors all day. Way to make South High proud!

Those advancing to State are:

Jazz Ensemble I for their Jazz Ensemble performance

South High Singers for their Madrigal, Show Choir, and Vocal Jazz performances

The Symphonic Band Flute Trio for their performance

The Symphonic Band Trombone Quartet for their performance

The Symphonic Band Trumpet Quartet for their performance

Senior Matthew Johns for his Baritone Solo and Vocal Duet

Freshman Ian Zempel for his Baritone Solo and Vocal Duet

Junior Zachary Schroeder for his Jazz Brass Improvisation Solo

Senior Jacob Hittman for his French Horn Solo

Senior Lauren Edson for her Musical Theatre Solo, Soprano Solo, and Vocal Duet

Senior Zoe Schrameyer for her Vocal Duet

Freshman Melany Rice for her Flute Solo

Sophomore Ashley Yang for her Tenor Saxophone Solo

Junior Nicole Fessler for her Alto Saxophone Solo

Juniors Owen Miller and Arik Scapellato for their Saxophone Duet

Sophomore Lauren Pfeifer for her Soprano Solo

Sophomore Samuel Kaffine for his Concert Snare Drum Solo and Drum Set Solo

Sophomore Helen Flynn for her Parade Drum Solo

Junior Mitchell Gilipsky for his Parade Drum Solo