The Blaine County Journal News-Opinion - We've Got The County Covered

Given residual concerns about the pandemic in Montana, the music festivals that are typically held in twelve districts each spring, followed by State Solo and Ensemble Festivals, which also populate school calendars this time of year, were conducted differently in April and May. However, the Chinook High School music programs did hold their Spring Concert on May 6 in the Lloyd Sweet Auditorium.

Due to a directive issued by the Montana High School Association, all district music festivals were held virtually this spring, and those performances were for “comments only,” as no ratings were awarded. Another pair of cancellations occurred in the sight reading requirement for large groups and with State Music Festival, which was not held at all.

Submissions for District 7, to which Chinook, Harlem, and Turner belong, opened on April 5 and closed on April 30.

According to Chinook School District Band and Choir Director, Devin Morris, Opus Events was the platform used for the virtual district music festivals. “We sent recordings, and various teachers in Montana and Washington served as the adjudicators. We haven’t gotten the comments back from those submissions, though.”

Danielle Stoll, Music Festival Chair for District 7 who also serves as the Choir Director for Havre High School, further explained the process: “Basically the directors upload or live record the students’ performances and a musical score. Then the adjudicator can watch the performance video, type feedback notes, and give video feedback. Finally, the festival chair can send the music teachers a link to the feedback. We should have feedback for our students by May 7 or the following week.”

For choir, the District 7 adjudicators are Molly Steele, Ellen Forslund, and Jacoby Holte. For band, the adjudicators are Todd Naasz and Lewis Nelson, while Anne Bashor is adjudicating piano entries.

“We normally would have nine judges total and they would be busy for two days, but since this year it was optional for schools to participate, the number of entries was down. The adjudicators each had about 10-11 entries a piece, except there were four entries for piano. Each entry takes about 15 minutes to listen to and adjudicate,” Stoll reported.

Stoll went on to say, “Even though a virtual festival can’t compete with a live event, the silver lining is that I have gotten a lot better at recording students, managing video files, and using the Opus Platform.”

In preparation for their concert last Thursday evening, both bands and choirs at Chinook Junior/Senior High School were focused on functioning as a single ensemble.

“The skills we have been working on are things like listening within your section, blending with the people around you, and musical ideas as a whole group that can add to the music,” Morris stated.

The junior high choir opened with three numbers, followed by the high school choir, who performed four songs. In the first—“Soli Deo Gloria” by Michael Practorius—Sarah Gillett was the featured soloist. In Dolly Parton’s “Jolene,” Callie Dunbar sang a solo part, and in “The Wellerman,” arranged by Michael Ware, three soloists performed: Aspyn Colby, Lilly Munari, and Sarah Gillett. The fourth song, “We’re the Men” by Jay Althouse, highlighted the baritones.

After those vocalists, the junior high band took the stage and performed “Power Rock” arranged by Michael Sweeney, “Anasazi” by John Edmondson, and “Paint It Black,” a piece arranged by Mike Story.

The evening closed with the high school band’s rendition of “Tempest” by Robert Smith, “Get Ready for This” arranged by Michael Sweeney, “My Sharona, arranged by Mike Story, and “4’33,” arranged by the Chinook High School Music program.

Morris gave a special thank you to Darin Hannum, Matt Molyneaux, Paula Molyneaux, and Chrissy Downs for their support of a growing program. “This concert would not be possible without your continued praise,” Morris said.

As the year winds down, Morris reflected on the rewarding moments of the past school year in the music department. “For me, the most rewarding thing has been seeing how far my students have progressed, even during this interesting year. One of my favorite memories occurred at one of the last basketball games. We were playing before the game and during half time, and fans from both North Star and Chinook were cheering us on as we played. Seeing what that support did to the students’ confidence was very rewarding, and that confidence showed through their playing afterwards.”