The students and staff of the Marlborough High School Music Department have been as busy as bees this spring, regardless of whether these little creatures have come out of hibernation themselves. MHS’s six performing ensembles worked through the dead of winter to learn, memorize and style their respective repertoire in time for a spring full of music festivals. Every year, the department enters its A Cappella Choir, Concert Band, Mixed Chorus, Orchestra and Wind Ensemble in the MICCA Festival. The festival, put on annually by the Massachusetts Instrumental and Choral Conductors’ Association, is an opportunity for middle and high school performing groups from across the state to perform repertoire in front of a panel of nationally renowned conductors and music educators and to receive feedback on their performance. Regardless of the type of ensemble, each group performs three selections for the panel and is ranked 1-5 on its ability to execute 8 standards in each piece, standards such as Balance and Blend, Rhythm, and Expression. Participating groups are not placed (1st, 2nd, 3rd) based upon their scores, but are given a rating (Gold, Silver, Bronze) based upon the average of the judges’ scores. After the judges hear and score a group, one judge from the panel works with the group in a mini-clinic, introducing techniques that may help the group in areas where students struggled. This experience proves valuable for both teachers and students because a group will always receive constructive feedback no matter how high or low their scores. Marlborough has always done exceptionally well at MICCA due to the commitment and enthusiasm of the staff and students. This year, Mixed Chorus and Orchestra received Bronze ratings, A Cappella Choir and Wind Ensemble received Silver ratings, and Concert Band received a Gold rating. A Gold rating gave Concert Band the additional reward of performing at Mechanics Hall. The MHS Jazz Band also competed in its own festival put on by the Massachusetts Association of Jazz Educators. The group received a Gold rating at the festival, with alto saxophonist Sarah Hanahan, trumpeter Connor Bailey, and electric and string bassist Shawheen Fagan also receiving "Outstanding Musicianship" awards.
To supplement its annual participation in MICCA and MAJE, the department competes in national festivals bi-annually. This April, MHS traveled to Alexandria, VA to compete in the Festival of Music at Washington D.C. FOMDC was similar in set-up to MICCA, but on a much grander scale. The choral ensembles performed at Vienna Presbyterian Church and the instrumentalists performed at Schlesinger Concert Hall, a nationally acclaimed performance venue at Northern Virginia Community College. When the students were not singing, playing or receiving feedback from the adjudicators, they got the chance to watch ensembles from schools all over the east coast perform. The groups were awarded differently at FOMDC than at MICCA or MAJE. Each ensemble received a rating based upon the caliber of their performance (Excellent, Fair, Poor, etc), but they were also placed against other ensembles within their category. Again, Marlborough swept the festival. In their respective categories, Mixed Chorus and Concert Band took third place, Jazz Band took second place, and A Cappella Choir, Orchestra and Wind Ensemble took first place. A Cappella also won Best Overall Concert Choir, and Wind won Best Overall Concert Band. Sarah Hanahan took home a medal for an outstanding alto saxophone solo. After hectic months of preparation and rehearsal, the students and staff got to experience the sights and sounds of D.C., touring historic locations such as Mt. Vernon, visiting monuments, enjoying the National Symphony and a dinner cruise along the Potomac. The students arrived back home to Marlborough exhausted, but happy with their accomplishments and excited about using their feedback to better their next performance. To learn more about the MHS Music Community and to find out how music can enrich your child’s journey, feel free to contact any of Marlborough’s music educators whose contact information can be found at mps-edu.org. By: Jennie O’Leary -Staff Writer Comments are closed.
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June 2019
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