Four Pea Ridge Band students were selected to participate in the All-Region VI Honor Band Clinic Friday and Saturday, Jan. 24 and 25. Those students were: ninth-grader Jacob Boyle on tuba, ninth-grader Dominique Burwell on flute, ninth-grader Devon Giertz on euphonium, and eighth-grader Garrett Lang on baritone saxophone. The students were selected after participating in auditions Saturday, Jan. 17, at Washington Junior High School in Bentonville.
Band students from all over Region VI, which include schools from Gentry, Gravette, Bentonville, Rogers, Decatur, Harrison, Mountain Home, Berryville, Yellville, Flippin, Cotter and Green Forest, auditioned for a panel of judges on Jan. 17 and the top students on each instrument were selected to represent their school in the All-Region Honor Band. The reward for being selected is that the students go to Mountain Home the following Friday and Saturday for a clinic with a guest director/conductor, usually selected from another region in the state, neighboring states or college level instructors to be the guest clinicians. There are two Senior High bands, grades 10-12, and two Jr. High bands, grades 6-9, at the clinic. Each student rehearses with their respective bands all afternoon and evening on Friday, followed by a rehearsal Saturday morning. Each band then puts on a free 30-minute concert in the Mountain Home High School Auditorium for the families and friends of the participants as well as the local community.
It is a great honor for the students to be selected to participate in the All-Region bands. They spend a day and a half preparing music that, on most occasions, they have never seen before and spend time learning the music and having their music abilities challenged while also enjoying being in a very large band with fellow students in their region. There are approximately 100 students in each band, making the total number of participants around 400 for the weekend. Jacob Boyle was selected to the top Junior High Band, while Dominique Burwell, Garret Lang and Devon Giertz were each selected to the second Junior High Band on their respective instruments.
This is Jacob Boyle's second year in a row to be selected to the honor band. The four students from Pea Ridge doubles the number of participants the band had last year. The clinic is a great experience for those students to harness their musical skills and talents and be a part of this prestigious group once a year. Each of them represented Pea Ridge very well all weekend, band director Matt McCool said.
Community on 02/05/2014