On Saturday, April 14, Pleasant Valley’s Music Department participated in the Iowa State Solo and Ensemble Festival held at Davenport West High School. The three programs, band, choir and orchestra, had an outstanding turn out in their performances.
PV had 100 entries in the state band contests including choirs (7-24 students), small ensembles (2-6 students), and solos. The high school and junior high band programs hold a local solo competition at the school each year in February and students wanting to participate at the state level prepare their solos with lesson teachers or on their own after the local competition.
Tara Daurer, PVHS Band Director, works with many of the ensembles to prepare their music for the state competition. Ensemble rehearsals are held outside of the regular class time due to the fact that they are voluntary. “We put sign up sheets out and students that are interested sign up,” Daurer said. In addition to the sectional ensembles, students are welcome to put together a small ensemble on their own to compete at the state competition.
The majority of the preparation is done in a short time span, two weeks prior to the competition. Therefore, it is up to students to hold themselves accountable for their parts. “We don’t spend enough time on it because we wait until after the Senior Concert to start rehearsing and we are rehearsing for district band at the same time as Solo and Ensemble and Large Group,” Daurer said.
The Pleasant Valley Band Program received two “Best in Center” awards for the Navy Flute Choir performance and solo performance by Claire Thomsen, making this Thomsen’s third consecutive year receiving a “Best in Center” award for her solo. Thomsen took part in nearly a dozen ensemble performances this year, and prepared a flute solo and piccolo solo on her own as well.
Daurer highly recommends that students wanting to continue playing music after high school take part in this competition. “The potential for chamber music holds the most amount of growth for a musician,” Daurer said. “It helps if students are going to continue playing because after high school you will be playing as a soloist or small ensemble most of the time.”
The Pleasant Valley Orchestra, had one ensemble entry which received a Division I rating. The orchestra also had a duet performance by Maddie Anthony and Andy Hammer, as well as seven solo entries. This small group of students that participated had a very successful day with seven Division I ratings and one Division II rating, as well as one “Best in Center”award for Annie Warner’s solo.
The process of the Solo and Ensemble competition varies for each group of musicians. For the Pleasant Valley Choirs, each choir member is required to participate. The choir directors divide each of the four choirs into smaller groups of about 8-16 students. Students also have the opportunity to prepare solos with their lesson teachers and accompanists to compete at the state level. Vocal Music Director Catherine Lyon helps prepare many PV students for their solos and small ensembles. “The music is selected by the director for each group and students prepare for the competition with the directors, accompanist, and in student-led rehearsals,” Lyon said.
This year, Pleasant Valley vocalists received more “Best in Center” awards than any other high school. The ensembles receiving this award were the Mixed Quartet (Bailey Connors, Halle Fish, Kaylin McNeal, and John Mendelin) and the Bass Ensemble (Caden Bennion, Rishem Bhogal, Bailey Connors, Avery Luepker, Nathan Lyon, John Mendelin, Brendan Roethler, and Rece Vining). Soloists receiving this award include Bailey Connors, Halle Fish, Ellie Lindmark, and Sean Wallace. In addition to these outstanding performance awards, PV choirs received 51 Division I ratings, 29 Division II ratings, and 15 Division III ratings. With these recognitions, Pleasant Valley received “Best in Center” for six out of the seven vocal centers.
