02/10/14 On Saturday, February 8th, the Plymouth High School band students competed in the annual Indiana State School Music Association’s Solo and Ensemble competition. Despite losing numerous rehearsal days to unplanned snow cancellations, the band members continued to work on their performances at home to prepare for this event.
Plymouth High School students annually do very well at this competition and this year was no exception. Numerous students competed in the Group 1 division hoping to advance to the state finals. Group 1 is the toughest level of competition and students must perform advanced level music selected from a state required list. Only the students that compete at this level are eligible to advance to the state finals competition and they must earn a Gold Award rating to advance.
Twenty-seven out of twenty-nine student performances from Plymouth will advance to the state finals level. “I was so impressed with the dedication that our students showed to this event,” said band director Bryan Ames. “Students were taking their instruments home on a regular basis in case of snow delays and working on their own from home. When we did have school, many of the students organized extra practices to enable their ensembles to catch up on lost time out of school.”
The following students from the Plymouth Band will be advancing to the state finals competition on Saturday, March 1st:
Jessica Beagle, woodwind ensemble
Ben Fager, woodwind ensemble
Alex Fox, brass solo
Karly Gruett, woodwind ensemble
Shelby Haisley, brass ensemble
Calvin Hopple, woodwind ensemble
Patrick Houser, mallet ensemble
Will Houser, mallet ensemble
Shannon May, woodwind ensemble
LeaAnna Miller, brass ensemble
Anna Piazza, woodwind ensemble
Korie Rice, woodwind ensemble
Jessica Sayer, woodwind ensemble
Ira Tillman, brass ensemble
Jared Thieling, brass ensemble
Brooke Wagner, woodwind ensemble
Tyler Wagner, woodwind ensemble
The following students advanced to state in two categories:
Anthony Boener, woodwind ensemble and brass ensemble
Eric Burch, brass solo and brass ensemble
Ben Piazza, snare solo and mallet ensemble
Taylor Scott, mallet solo and mallet ensemble
Sarah Tanner, woodwind solo and woodwind ensemble
The following students competed in Group 1, but did not advance to the state competition:
Karly Gruett, woodwind solo
Sophia Smith, snare solo
The following students attended the event in the Group 2 or 3 division.
Will Houser, mallet solo (Gold Award, group 2)
Conner Matthews, woodwind solo (Gold Award, group 4)
Carson Pifer, woodwind solo (Gold Award, group 3)
Gabe Celmer, brass solo (Silver Award, group 3)
Congratulations to the outstanding performances by the Plymouth Band members. The state finals event will be held at North Central High School in Indianapolis on Saturday, March 1st.
