by Caleb Peter

On April 7, students in band and choir traveled to Pella Christian High School to play and perform songs to be judged. Out of 40 performances, there were 17 with division I ratings. Students put a lot of time and effort into preparing their pieces for performance. A division I rating denotes excellent and a II rating is good. Juniors Bella Sitzmann and Wyatt Van Gorp won best of centers for both their centers.

The vocal solos that received division I ratings was seniors Sidney Metzger, Sydney Burns, and junior Maddy Buys. Vocal solos that received a division II was junior Jessica Beener, sophomore Blake VanDerKamp, freshman Kylie Risius, sophomore Zoey Emmack, sophomore Faith Howard, and senior Ben Block. Three vocal ensembles all received division I ratings. One vocal ensemble received a division II.

A duet with Buys and junior Alex Inskeep received a division II rating. Two small choirs received division I ratings.

The flute solos receiving a division I were juniors Bella Sitzmann and Hannah Bouwkamp. The flute solos receiving a division II were seniors Sabrina Reed, Baylee Smith and junior Josie Herwehe. Sophomore Emily Tuinstra received a division III rating for her flute solo. A flute duet with junior Elizabeth Bradbury and sophomore Kimberlee Nicole received a division I rating. For saxophone solos, senior Rory Van Gorp received a division I and junior Charlotte Bowden received a division II. Senior Kayla Sopher received a division II for a high brass solo. Senior Tyler Peterson received a division II rating for his low brass solo, and senior Colton Warrick received a division I rating for his low brass solo. Sophomore Klaire Jungling and junior Haley Buckingham received division II ratings for their clarinet solos.

The clarinet choir received a division II rating. The brass choir received a division II rating. The percussion choir received a division I, and the flute choir received a division II. The saxophone choir received a division I rating. Junior Wyatt Van Gorp received a division I rating for his Marimba Solo. A duet with siblings freshman Sage Burns and Sydney Burns received a division I.

“I was in the mixed choir, women’s choir, a choir trio, a choir duet, a choir solo, a clarinet choir, and a clarinet trio. This is the most I’ve ever been in,” Sydney Burns said. As senior, this is her last solo and ensemble competition. “It’s a bittersweet moment. I’ll be sad to leave high school band and choir and the directors, but I’m looking forward to music in college.”  

Burns plans to major in vocal music education at Central College.

The next performance for the band will be May 4. for Tulip Time and May 5. for state large group.