While walking through the halls of East Kentwood during Solo & Ensemble, one is surrounded by some of the best musicians in the district. One hears the harmonic sound of the piano, mixed with the full voice of the cello as well as the screaming high pitch of the violin and the vibrant sound of the viola. Further down the hall, one hears the sonorous notes of the marimba and maybe even a muffled beat of a snare drum. Further, the soft melody of wind instruments, the piercing pitch of the piccolo, and the jazzy swing saxophone. Finally, the colored blare of the horns resonate through the halls.
Musicians at Solo & Ensemble recognize people from music camps, performances, and groups such as the Holland Area Youth Symphony Orchestra. Even though they may not know them personally or talk to them much, they know that they all have the same goal in mind – to get a one rating and move on to state.
Along with all of the sounds blending together, there is also a ton of anxiety floating in the hallways. West Ottawa’s musicians have been preparing for this moment since mid October. Many students have been using seminar time to transfer to band and orchestra to work with groups, work with the piano accompanists, and work on solos. At WO, it is always extremely difficult to find a place to practice, but during Solo & Ensemble, it is especially hard.
“Every single space that we can possibly use is filled. All the practice rooms are full, the band and orchestra rooms are full, and all of the offices and storage rooms are full of kids practicing,” Instructor Chris Meyer said.
Attending Solo & Ensemble is a must for musicians who want to improve their performance ability.
“We’ve got 28 events going. There’s over 30 students involved. It’s a great way for students to challenge themselves and get some outside feedback on their performance,” Meyer said.
All of these musicians are trying to perfect the little things, such as dynamics and intonation. They are also cleaning up any parts that don’t always work out perfectly.
“Siena, the 1st violinist, has a syncopated rhythm while the rest of the quartet is on the beat and it is really hard to line up,” Sr. Ethan Heyboer said. Soph. Siena Radakovits’ free time has really been affected by this part in the piece. She’s been spending less time on Netflix and more time with her violin.
“I was having trouble with two measures of my music and I’ve worked on it for a couple of weeks now and I just couldn’t get it. I’ve been waking up earlier to practice in the morning with the metronome. Then it finally started working out. Now I’m just waiting to see if it works this weekend with the whole quartet,” Radakovits said.
Walking into the performance room, that was the main thing the quartet was concerned about. As we played it, I remember looking over at Ethan seeing him with the biggest grin on his face because Sienna finally got it right. It sounded perfect.
After the performance, Heyboer said, “Siena nailed all the hard parts which was really impressive. The judge was so excited too. It was great.”
Congratulations to all of the musicians who participated in Solo & Ensemble. The students who received a “First Division Rating” qualify to go onto State Solo & Ensemble.
Receiving a “First Division Rating” for an excellent performance were:
Sophie Engels – Violin Solo
Mitchell Frauenheim – Violin Solo
Erin Magennis – Violin Solo
Siena Radakovitz – Violin Solo
Anna Smyk – Violin Solo
Alyssa Anderson – Viola Solo
Dominic Aquino – Cello Solo
Ethan Heyboer – Cello Solo
Austin Castillo – Alto Saxophone Solo
Abby Shepard – Alto Saxophone Solo
Julian Jimenez – Baritone Saxophone Solo
Hunter Sims – Trumpet Solo
Ben Hahn – Trombone Solo
Devon Balint – Snare Drum Solo
Drew Deur – Snare Drum Solo
Quincy Doenges – Snare Drum Solo, Marimba Solo
Avery Marzynski – Snare Drum Solo
Andrew Smyk – Snare Drum Solo, Marimba Solo
Ben Shumaker – Marimba Solo
Violin Duet – Isabelle McConkey, Emma VonHoltz
Violin Duet – Iris Swarthout, Sarah Olney
Violin / Viola Duet – Alyssa Anderson, Stephanie Ganzi
Violin / Flute Duet – Stephanie Ganzi, Maggie Neuman
Clarinet Duet – Mackenzie Koning, Amelia Blythe
Brass Duet – Aleah Hahn, Ben Hahn
Marimba Duet – Ben Shumaker, Sam Duckworth
Clarinet Trio – Amelia Blythe, Mackenzie Koning, Katherine Hoekstra
String Quartet – Alyssa Anderson, Hunter Ihrman, Stephanie Ganzi, Riley Vaara
String Quartet – Siena Radakovitz, Kaylie McConnell, Maddy Auby, Ethan Heyboer
Saxophone Quartet – Abby Shepard, Sean Nguyen, David Stanley, Mitchell Jones
Trombone Quartet – Ben Hahn, Camden Mangelsdorf, Huntar Genigeski, Matthew Moraw
Flute Quintet – Becca Bruins, Courtney Allen, Petra Braunius, Maggie Neuman, Lily Kilpatrick
Trombone Choir – Aiden Engle, Camden Mangelsdorf, Brianna Lee, Matthew Moraw, Huntar Genigeski, Daniel Gonzalez, Ben Hahn, Nate Moored, Johnathan Nguyen, Kevin Le
Woodwind Choir – Petra Braunius, Abby Shepard, Becca Bruins, Katherine Hoekstra, Amelia Blythe, Mackenzie Koning, Jessica Bracamonte, Maggie Neuman, Gretchen Schmitz, Mitchell Jones, Courtney Allen, Erin Jones, Sean Nguyen, Jessica Bernal, Libby Duistermars, Jessy DeVlieger, Rylan McCoy, Tim Cooke, David Stanley, Isabella Violante
Brass Choir – Sarah Cremin, Gage Deyarmond, Dante Miller, Topher Doman, Isaac Brinkman, Ben Hahn, Camden Mangelsdorf, Aleah Hahn, Alexis VanAelst, Rachael Pratt, Devon Davis, Huntar Genigeski, Matthew Moraw, Hunter Sims, Daniel Gonzalez
Percussion Chamber Ensemble – Jack Kleinjans, Sam Duckworth, Aaron Stefanovsky, Andrea Nguyen, Quincy Doenges, Andy Garcia, Nick Altamira, Drew Deur, Garrison Osborne, Devon Balint, Ben Shumaker
Percussion Chamber Ensemble – Austin Maung, John Jachalke, Jordan Crook, Ethan Stam, Braden Book, Miles Kent, Andrew Smyk, Andy Garcia, Jacob Stonick, Sonja Collins, Garrison Osborne, Kyle Wiersma, Aaron Stefanovsky, Andrea Nguyen, Jack Kleinjans, Avery Marzynski
Receiving a “Second Division Rating” for a good performance were:
Katie Frauenheim – Violin Solo
Alex Ky – Violin Solo
Kaylie McConnell – Violin Solo
Brigitte Morren – Violin Solo
Elizabeth Nguyen – Violin Solo
Iris Swarthout – Violin Solo
Joseph Kramer – Cello Solo
Courtney Allen – Flute Solo
Katherine Hoekstra – Clarinet Solo
Alexis VanAelst – Trumpet Solo
Hunter Ihrman – Cello Solo
Saxophone Duet – Ryan Bowker, Julian Jimenez
Violin Duet – Alex Ky, Andres Solorzano
Violin Duet – Maya Lee, Kathy Rodas
Violin Duet – Brigitte Morren, Summer Hoang
Violin Trio – Brigitte Morren, Summer Hoang, Breanna Bruechert
String Trio – Elizabeth Nguyen, Lisa Charlis, Luz Becerra
String Trio – Kaylee Comai, Elizabeth Hoekstra, Danielle Lozano