OHS Strings Awarded First Alternate for State Competition

— from Kristen Wilson —

Commendations go to 18 Orcas High School musicians who came home from the regional San Juan Music Educators Association (SJMEA) Solo/Ensemble Contest with some of their most impressive results ever. The musicians, accompanied by Strings Director Pamela Wright and Band Director Darren Dix, set their alarms for 4:45 a.m.on Saturday, January 31 to catch the early ferry to Bellingham where they competed with more than two hundred well-rested students from the mainland.

For the past several years Pamela Wright has led the Orcas High School Strings to the top or near the top of all large string ensembles performing at the SJMEA contest. And this year was no exception. Competing with much larger high schools from Bellingham and other Northwest Washington cities, the Orcas High School Strings ensemble was awarded the second highest number of points and will be the first alternate to go to state competition if Bellingham’s Sehome High School is unable to make the trip. Additional praise goes to Emy Carter, on solo violin, who was selected the first alternate to go to state competition, and sister Lisa Carter on solo piano, who was selected second alternate to go to state.

The Orcas High School Strings, playing without a conductor, performed Bach’s Concerto in D minor for Two Violins (1st and 3rd movements) with Paris Wilson and Emy Carter playing the solos. The judge commented on the beautiful quality of the ensemble’s sound and how well they communicated with each other and played together as a group. “It is rare to see that in an ensemble,” he said. The ten-member group is composed of Michael Harlow, Emy Carter, Lisa Carter, Paris Wilson, Emily Toombs, Joanne Mietzner, Michael Chesher, Zach Waage, Wylie Kau and Anthony Kaskurs.

Two small string ensembles from Orcas competed with a whopping 64 other small string ensembles at the contest. Orcas’s creatively named “U Jelly of Our Celli,” with cellists Wylie Kau and Anthony Kaskurs, performed The Entertainer by Scott Joplin and came within a hair’s breadth of making the play-offs for state competition. Almost Classical’s Emy Carter, Lisa Carter and Paris Wilson, with their arrangement of Rewrite This Story (from the TV show “Smash”) were selected to be in the play-offs for state, but were declared ineligible because one member of the group is not in grades 9 through 12.

Three violin soloists from Orcas performed at the contest. Emy Carter, playing the beautiful Bach Partita no. 2 Sarabande, was selected as first alternate for state. The judge said she “played with good feeling” and had “such nice tone.” Michael Harlow, who was selected as the second alternate to go to state last year at competition, played the 1st and 4th movements of Schubert’s Sonatina No. 3, Op. 137. “You have a fabulous vibrato,” said the judge, “and you play in an intimate style for this kind of music.” Paris Wilson, who is ineligible to perform at state competition due to her age, nevertheless impressed the judge with her beautiful playing of Haydn’s Concerto in G Major, 1st movement. “You have a beautiful line and phrasing, and a natural ease,” said the judge.

Two other soloists performed at the competition. Lisa Carter, on piano, performed Debussey’s Arabesque No. 1 and was selected second alternate for state. The judge commented on her excellent phrasing. And from the Orcas Band, Kaya Osborn, on alto saxophone, performed Aria by Eugene Bozza. The judge said she was “obviously very well-prepared.”

Seven other Orcas band musicians performed at the contest. Keith Light, Jo Gudgell and Liam Griskey-Watson, from the percussion group Da Beat Kidzz, performed the vigorous Time Mixer by Lynn Glassock. “Very Cool!” said the judge. “There’s a lot of good stuff going on, and you are invested into playing as an ensemble. Nice job!” The two musicians in Orcas’s “Bandtastic 4” (Kahana Pietsch on trombone and Claire Bishop Martin on flute) performed an Allegro by Mozart. “Your intonation was good together,” said the judge. Finally, the group “#Looking Naturals” (Holden Griskey-Watson on bass clarinet and McCabe Webb on euphonium) played Duets No. 2 and 3 from the 17 Duets by Klose. “I like the sound of these instruments together,” the judge said.

The Orcas community can hear some of these amazing musicians play at the annual Music Advocacy Group’s (MAG) concert at 3p.m. on Sunday, March 1, in the Orcas School K-8 gym. The Orcas Middle School Band and combined Middle and High School Strings will perform at the concert, along with the Orcas Choral Society, Orcas Island Community Band and Island Sinfonia. Admission is by donation and all donations go to MAG to support the music program at the Orcas Public Schools.