PHS band students qualify for state finals
On Saturday, Jan. 28, the Plymouth High School
Band hosted the annual Indiana State School
Music Association’s Solo and Ensemble District
Contest. This event brought over a dozen school music programs to Plymouth High School and featured nearly 350 performances throughout the day. At this event, student musicians can perform as a soloist or in an ensemble of three to twenty performers. Students are evaluated in nine categories by a judge and each performer receives a rating of Gold, Silver Bronze, or Participation. Students who compete in the highest level of competition, the Group 1 division, are required to perform music from a state-mandated list of repertoire. Additionally, students who compete in the Group 1 division and earn a Gold Award rating are then advanced to the ISSMA Solo and Ensemble State Finals events.
The Plymouth High School Band members gave outstanding performances and every student from the Plymouth High School Band earned the top rating of a Gold Award. Additionally, Plymouth High School Band had twenty students who qualified for the state finals events. Several of these students qualified in more than one event and junior band member Beck Ruggles qualified in three events. State finalists from the Plymouth Band include:
• Quintin Abarca, freshman: Percussion Ensemble
• Tatum Atkins, junior: Saxophone Sextet
• Stella Awald, freshman: Percussion Ensemble
and Saxophone Sextet
• Duncan Carter, junior: Horn Solo
• Nathaniel Celadina, junior: Saxophone Sextet
• Gavin Dewitt, freshman: Percussion Ensemble
• Ella Harner, junior: Clarinet Quintet
• Ben Hutchings, senior: Saxophone Solo and Saxophone Sextet
• Alex Kizer, sophomore: Percussion Ensemble
• Logan Lindstrom, freshman: Snare Solo and Percussion Ensemble
• Ethan Podlesak, freshman: Percussion Ensemble
• Evy Roberts, junior: Clarinet Solo and Clarinet Quintet
• Beck Ruggles, junior: Bass Clarinet Solo,
Saxophone Sextet, Clarinet Quintet
• Elli Schaller, senior: Saxophone Sextet
• Jonny Schramm, freshman: Percussion Ensemble
• Grace Sharpe, sophomore: Percussion Ensemble
• Kai Shook, junior: Clarinet Quintet
• Luke Sellers, freshman: Percussion Ensemble
• Austin Ward, senior: Trumpet Solo
• Jessy Zheng, sophomore: Clarinet Quintet The ISSMA State Finals event will be held on Saturday, Feb. 25, at North Central High School in Indianapolis. Congratulations to all of the Plymouth Band members and best of luck to our upcoming state finalists.