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Sperry Band of Pirates Score Big Wins in Back-to-Back Competitions
The Sperry Band of Pirates starts each school year marching and continues performing through graduation night. The concert band members have recently been busy preparing for two different Oklahoma Secondary Schools Athletic Association (OSSAA) contests which took place just days apart. Nine soloists, on Saturday, March 1, traveled with Band Director Makayla West to the OSSAA District Solo and Ensemble Contest held at Claremore High School.
“Students must practice independently for this competition outside of school,” Ms. West said. “Each student has to be really dedicated to their craft, preparing on their own for this competition since December 5. Everyone did well, and I’m proud of them all.”
Of the nine participants, five received a score of Excellent for their work, and four were rated as Superior. Freshman Jazlyn Million received a Superior rating for her clarinet performance, freshman Alanna Hembree and junior Justin Brown both received a Superior rating for their work on the marimba, and senior Weston Preslar’s tuba performance was also rated Superior.
These four will travel to Oklahoma State University in April for the OSSAA State Competition.
Sperry Statebound Soloists from left to right: Alanna Hembree, Weston Preslar, Justing Brown, and Jazyln Million.
On Thursday, March 6, Ms. West and the entire concert band traveled to Bartlesville for the annual OSSAA District Concert Band Contest. This contest consisted of two different sets of performances. First, the Band of Pirates performed “prepared pieces,” selections that had been assigned to the band previously with sufficient time for them to practice. This portion of the contest was performed for a team of three judges. The second part of the contest, however, is a tougher test of their skills as it is a “sight reading” of a selection they had not had the opportunity to see before the contest played before a single judge.
“This contest tests not only their ability to learn a piece and practice it to a skilled level,” Ms. West said, “but the ability to play a new selection well as a group at their first opportunity to see it.”
The Band of Pirates received a rating of 4 from each of the three judges for the prepared selections, and a 4 from the judge for the sight reading. With these perfect scores from each of the judges, the concert band will next travel to Ada in April for their OSSAA State Competition.
Band of Pirates Concert Band
