Cedarville, DeTour Take Ones at Band Festival
By Amy Polk

After Cedarville Middle School Band's performance, sight reading judge Carl Gippert explains using an instrument to express the correct pitch and tone written in a piece of music.

"This is the MEAP test for all Michigan music students," said Carl Gippert, one of the judges at the State Michigan School Band and Orchestra Festival in Cedarville Friday, April 27.

The comparison of the festival to the state's Michigan Educational Assessment Program examination was meant to tell musicians how the event demonstrates teaching competency and musical talent.

"Your performance here tells if you are learning the correct components of a musical education," Mr. Gippert continued.

The Port Huron music teacher has taught both high school and college students, and now teaches music at St. Clair Community College. He was one of four judges who provided comments to the competing bands. Most comments were in writing, but Mr. Gippert reported many of his observations directly to students after their performances, giving them direct interaction with the judge, and a chance to hear how someone other than a teacher or parent hears the band's performance. Mr. Gippert gave specific improvement recommendations to the groups, and teachers found his comments useful.

DeTour Area Schools music director Jessica Kietzman (far left) stands with her district's 12-person band for the enthusiastic applause of the audience at the State Band Festival in Cedarville April 27. The band earned the highest score possible at this year's festival, for the first time in school history.

"It was the first time we've had him as a judge, and I thought he was wonderful," said Les Cheneaux Community Schools Music Director Alan Jacobus. "The students really enjoyed him, too."

Cedarville High School Band and DeTour High School Band were the only two bands at the competition to earn top scores from all four judges.

DeTour Area Schools reports it is the first top rating the band has earned in the history of the school. Two years of instruction by Jessica Kietzman has enabled the 12-person band to compete against some of the best bands in northern Michigan. Miss Kietzman, a Central Michigan University music education graduate, started teaching at DeTour in 2005.

The Cedarville High School Band, with music director Alan Jacobus (far right), earned top scores from all judges at the State Band Festival in Cedarville Friday, April 27.

She was happy with results, and the fact the band earned a chance to play at State Festival.

"They have worked so hard and I've asked them to do so many difficult things a band director probably wouldn't normally ask students to do," she said.

The practice paid off in the face of rigorous judging noted by instructors and some audience members. Overall scores are the sum of the four judges' scores.

"It was an extremely tough panel of judges," said Mr. Jacobus, who also serves as vice president of the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association.

Judges grade bands on a numerical scale, with the numeral 1 as the best score.

An experienced participant in MSBOA's festivals, Mr. Jacobus has successfully conducted Cedarville high school and middle school students through a decade of district and state competitions. This year, Cedarville High School earned all 1's in each of the judging categories, and a 1 overall. The band performed an advanced Class C-rated piece during the competition, which is more difficult than the music rated for Class D schools. Mr. Gippert compared Cedarville's performance and instrumentation to AA Michigan schools, commenting, "a lot of AA schools don't play as well or have as good instrumentation as you do."

Second-year Pickford music director Megan Miller (far left) leads her band through a good first performance in a State Band Festival in Cedarville Friday, April 27.

The Cedarville Middle School Band earned three 1's in performance and a 2 in sight reading, with

an overall score of 1. Chassell Junior and Senior High School Band also earned a top score with two 1's and two 2's.

Pickford band and and Rudyard Middle School Band each earned 2's. This was Pickford's first state festival and the district's music director, Megan Miller, is another new teacher who has transformed the music program at her school. She said she is thrilled "the band got to state festival in only my second year here." The young band is a junior high and high school blend, mostly comprised of seventh and eighth grade students.

The rest of the bands earned overall 2's, including Houghton High School, Bessemer Junior High School, and Central Lake Junior High School.

Les Cheneaux Community Schools hosted this year's festival in Cedarville, as it did in 2005. There were twice as many bands competing this year. The festival gives students the chance to hear other top bands.

"We haven't had the Eastern Upper Peninsula represented like this in a state festival in a long time," Mr. Jacobus said. "Five out of the nine bands there were from the EUP."