Students receive high scores at District Music Festival in Missoula

Mineral County students traveled to Missoula on April 20 and 21 to participate in the District Music Festival held at Sentinel High School.

Students performed solos and small ensembles for adjudicators who rated their performances as well as offered improvements of performances. The bands and choirs were also required to perform music they had not rehearsed prior to the festival for the sight-reading portion of their evaluation.

St. Regis Music Teacher, Derek Larson said one adjudicator was “blown away” when he heard the band play their second piece and said what they have is rare even among large schools.

“St. Regis is starting to make history in the Montana Class C music community,” said Larson. The band received a superior rating and excellent ratings for the choir, “it was the first time the choir scored so high on their sight reading,” he commented.

The Alberton band received a 2 for performance and a 1 for sight reading and the choir received a 2 for performance and a 2 for sight reading.

“When I consider how much they have improved since the beginning of the year, and how young they are I couldn’t be prouder,” said Alberton Music Teacher, Mike Wolfe.”I see a bright future for the music program here at Alberton Public Schools.”

Superior Music Teacher, Amber Winter said her teams received excellent for both band and choir and excellent for the 3 soloists. The soloists were Kayli Schoolcraft-Trumpet, Audrie Azure-Soprano, and Emily Coleman-Soprano.