Thursday, March 28, 2024

Dawson Middle School Band Students Excel

For the last three weeks, the Dawson Middle School bands have had great success in three individual competitions, qualifying a large number of musicians for the All-City and All-Region Honor Bands.
On Saturday, October 23, 100 students from the DMS bands auditioned for a spot in the CISD All-City Honor Band (pictured below).
Since the start of the year, students have been preparing eight scales, the chromatic scale, two etudes (one lyrical and one technical) and have been working on improving their sight reading skills.  On that Saturday, each student had to go into a room and perform for two judges, two scales, the chromatic scale, each etude and then have 30 seconds to study, then perform an eight-measure
sight reading example.  Each student was evaluated (40 points for scales, 200 points for the etudes and 60 points for the sight reading) and then ranked against each other as well as members from the Carroll Middle School band program.
A total of 51 DMS band students were selected to perform with this outstanding ensemble.
On Wednesday, October 27, 75 DMS band students competed against 1,100 other middle schoolers from Lewisville and Grapevine, in the TMEA Phase I All-Region Honor Band (pictured right) competition.  For the first time ever, Dawson hosted the event.  The building was packed with almost 1,200 students, auditioning in 32 different rooms.  Each student had to perform two scales, the chromatic scale and two small cuts from their etudes for a panel of three judges per room.  The judges then determined the top players from each room, advancing them on to the phase II portion.
Dawson MS Bands advanced 43 students, 10 more than the closest competitor.
For the phase II portion Saturday, Nov.6 at Huffines Middle School in Lewisville, those same 43 students had to perform their chromatic scale, larger cuts from their etudes and sight reading, for a panel of five judges in each room.
Dawson MS placed 31 students into the three All-Region Bands.
Below is a list of All-City and All-Region Honor Band members.
CISD All-City Honor Band:
Flutes – Hannah Bronson, Caroline Freden, Mia Bergeron, Michelle Leonard, Thi Tran,
Oboes – Shay Guerin, Hannah Smith, Alana Herrera
Bassoons – Evan Lawson, Chris File
Clarinets – Rachel Goodman, Justin Roach, Loson Stockton, Ashley Young, Juian Raines, Wongyeong Seong
Alto Saxes – Tien Tran, Anthony Chen, Brandon Vu, Mary Grace Roach, Clay Johnson
Tenor Saxes – Daniel Tubbesing
Bari Saxes – Zachary Susskind
Trumpets – Matt Ballew, Clay Keyser, Matt Canterino, Kaley VanValkenburg, Adam Boissevain
French Horns – Jarod Chaney, Natalie Piazza, Hannah Stevens, Matt Prost
Trombones – Chris Cunningham, Dom Iannelli, Jaden Curreri, Isaac Rosenthal, Jackson Bicart, Katie Clarkson
Euphoniums – Jesse Havener, Tyler Jones
Tubas – Josh Helton, Jackson O’Donnell, Andrew Hyatt, Parker Miller
Percussion – Nikhil Ravi, Cole Kaye, Aaron Li, Joshua Choe, Katherine LeJeune, Jackson Wright, Kevin Shurtz
Alternates – Abby Singer, Erica Dagar, Allie Newman, Justin Griffith, Nathan Fritz, Cameron Allen, Mason Greenberg
All-Region Honor Bands:
Flutes – Hannah Bronson, Caroline Freden, Mia Bergeron, Michelle Leonard, Thi Tran, Candace Duffy, Megan Jorgensen
Oboes – Shay Guerin, Hannah Smith (alternate)
Clarinets – Rachel Goodman, Justin Roach, Ashley Young
Alto Saxes – Tien Tran, Anthony Chen
Tenor Sax – Daniel Tubbesing
Bari Sax – Zachary Susskind
Trumpets – Matt Ballew, Matt Canterino, Kaley VanValkenburg, Brooks Ragsdale, Preston La
French Horns – Jarod Chaney, Natalie Piazza
Trombones – Chris Cunningham, Dom Iannelli, Jaden Curreri, Pearce Brown, Nathan Fritz
Tubas – Josh Helton, Jackson O’Donnell, Andrew Hyatt
Percussion – Cole Kaye, Mason Greenberg (alternate) 
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