Symphonic Band Earns ‘Superior’ Rating
For Fourth Year in Row at Districts
Feat Merely Adds to Music Dept. Achievements

By Margaret Lipman (March 9, 2005)

The GMHS Symphonic Band received an overall superior rating at the District X Band Festival on Friday, marking the fourth consecutive year in which they have earned this honor. The festival was held at Falls Church High School and spanned both Friday and Saturday.  It featured approximately 40 bands from the Northern Virginia area.  The band was conducted by Mary Jo Webster and included almost 90 students. 

The band scored superior ratings (equivalent to a 1, the highest score on the scale of 1 – 5) from all three judges on their three prepared pieces, but received a rating of excellent (equivalent to a 2 on the numerical scale) for their sight-reading performance.  Still, when the scores were averaged, the band’s overall grade was a superior.  After a final warm-up, the band took the stage in the Falls Church High School auditorium to begin their prepared set, which was comprised of three challenging Grade Five compositions.  Their first piece was the up-tempo march “The Chimes of Liberty” by Edwin Franko Goldman.  Next came “Folk Songs from the Southern Appalachians” by Robert W. Smith, a medley of traditional tunes from the Blue Ridge regions of North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky.  The band concluded with the rousing “Emperata Overture” by Claude T. Smith.

The band left the stage amid applause from the group parents who had come out to support them.  Shortly after, the band members began preparing for sight-reading, the second portion of the festival.  The band had several minutes to study the piece they had been given (“Mystic Fortress,” a Grade Three arrangement) before beginning their sight-reading performance.  After they had finished, the sight-reading judge spent several minutes critiquing their performance.  The judge commented that the band had done very well with notes, rhythms, and dynamics, but had omitted several of the piece’s finer details.  

“There were about 40 bands that competed in this festival and out of those, there were only six or seven that received superior ratings and they were mostly from much larger schools,” said Mrs. Webster, obviously pleased that George Mason, despite its small size, can once again count itself among that number.

However, the GMHS Symphonic Band’s laudable performance at the District X Festival is only one of the latest in a recent string of awards and distinctions that students in the Music Department have earned. 

Seventeen members of the band auditioned on December 11th for the highly selective District Band.  Out of the hundreds of local students auditioning, six Mason students were selected to participate.  At the February 5 performance at Hayfield High School, clarinetist Elena Martinez, flautist Alicia Hartstack and saxophonist Tina Parsons played with the top band, while flautist Holly McAlpin, tuba player Nathan Ballou, and French Horn player Maggie Person played with the second band.  Elena Martinez and Tina Parsons were also among those participating in the extremely selective State Band auditions at James Madison University on February 26.  Among the students participating in District Chorus this year, junior Daisy Torla (also a clarinetist in the Symphonic Band) had the distinction of actually making the State Chorus, which will perform at Fairfax High School in late April. The GMHS Jazz Ensemble had the unique honor of being selected to perform at the Kennedy Center’s Music in Our Schools Month Celebration.  The ensemble, which was formed only last year, was among only four musical groups from the state of Virginia chosen to play.  The 20-member ensemble features students on alto, tenor, and baritone saxophone; trumpet, trombone, piano, drum set, vocals, and electric bass.  Performing on the prestigious Millenium Stage, the ensemble chose “Sing, Sing, Sing,” “Mr. Zoot Suit,” “Easy Money,” “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” “Traces,” “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” and “A Night in Tunisia” for their swinging set.  The Jazz Ensemble also had the distinction of holding the first Tsunami Relief Project fundraiser back on January 10, when the students performed with the Potomac Jazz Orchestra and raised $2,500 in only two hours.

Also this year, a group of band students participated in the VCU Festival of Winds in Richmond on January 15.  At the all-day festival, the students attended specialized clinics and presented a concert in the evening.  And during this past holiday season, the GMHS Brass and Woodwind Quintets garnered praise and appreciation from the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Falls Church News Press when the students performed at the their holiday parties.  The Woodwind Quintet is also planning to perform at the Falls Church Education Foundation Dinner on April 29.  Several Mason musicians are also planning to perform pieces in the annual Solo and Ensemble Competition in April. 

Participation in the GMHS Music Department does not end there.  This Saturday, March 12, the GMHS Symphonic Band will depart for a three-day trip to New York City, where the students will perform at the Music Maestro Festival of Musical Performance.  Besides their own performance, sightseeing, and attending the musical “Chicago,” the students will also attend a concert by the New York Philharmonic and have the opportunity to meet the Philharmonic’s musicians.