FMS students perform at music contests

Fairfield Middle School students performed well at recent Ottumwa music contests.

Feb. 27, 30 FMS band students performed in the annual Ottumwa Solo Day festival. Students prepare a solo, with piano accompaniment, if written, and perform for a judge. They are critiqued on musical areas such as tone quality, intonation, interpretation, playing position, rhythm, technique, note accuracy, articulation and stage appearance and given a rating based on their performance. A I+ rating is the highest rating given, which can be achieved by performing an above grade-level solo at a superior level, or memorizing their solo and presenting a superior performance.  FMS band students received 10 I+ ratings for their performances. Students receiving those ratings were: Dakota Andersen, James Bechtel, Gannon Courtright, Phoenix Haessler, Loreena Hucke, Katherine Hull, Finnegan Malloy, Lindsey Repp, Camille Schaefer, and clarinet trio of Lindsey Repp, Katherine Mueller and Shea Malloy.

The seventh- and eighth-grade concert band travelled to Ottumwa March 15 to perform in the Southeast Iowa Bandmasters Association large-group festival. They performed three pieces for three judges, and were rated on their performance in the areas of musical effect, intonation, tone quality, interpretation, technique, balance and blend and stage appearance/literature. The band played ?Fidelity March? by Karl L. King (arranged by Andrew Glover), a standard march; ?Apparitions? by Brian Balmages, a piece which had many special effects and soloists; and ?Rhythm of the Spheres? by Erik Morales, a fast, exciting work featuring each section of the band. The band received a I rating, which signifies a superior performance.