They sing, they pluck and they hit each note. Orchestra, band and choir have been preparing for weeks for their performances in the State Music Contest, held on April 19 at various Blue Valley High Schools.

“I expected to perform well musically while having fun making music,” band teacher Ann Snead said.

Both the Symphonic Band and the Concert Band lived up to her expectations.

“We got 1s with both bands,” Snead said. “I thought that the symphonic band played very musically and concert band played excitingly.”

Judges score on a 1 through 5 scale, 1 being the highest score and 5 being the lowest. Receiving a 1 would be close to, if not completely, a perfect performance. All the judges have to agree that the performance deserved it, making a 1 the hardest score to receive.

On April 19, choirs performed at Blue Valley Northwest High School in the vocal section of the State Music Festival.

“Our men’s group got a 2 rating,” choir director Scot Schwartz said. “A Capella choir got a 1 rating. and the women’s group got a 1 rating.”

Students were pleased with their results as well.

“We did really well,” Girls’ Concert Choir member Roya Rostampour said. “We got a 1, which is the highest you can get.”

“We worked really hard and deserved a 1,” Chambers and A Capella choir member Katelyn Arrocha said. “We worked our butts off. We put a lot of effort into it, and it finally paid off.”

Both orchestra groups earned a 1 rating. This is the 12th straight year Orchestra has earned 1s in the State Music Contest, according to orchestra director Jeffrey Bishop.

“I’m proud to be part of such a great music program here at Northwest,” Orchestra Leadership Team president Sarah Crosley said.

Bishop was especially proud of everyone’s performance.

“I was very pleased, very proud and more proud of the fact that we got compliments for our performance from the festival staff members for our great behavior and being polite,” Bishop said. “They represented Shawnee Mission Northwest well on and offstage.”

by Haena Lee