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Music assessments and Disney trip

The orchestra and band assessments were the weekend of March 16th and the Oakton High School orchestra played at Washington Liberty High School while the Oakton band played at Centreville High School. On March 20th, after assessments, they headed off to Orlando to have a fun weekend at Disney. This is an overview of how assessments works and how the students prepared.

BAND RESULTS

Assessment: All superior ratings

This is a picutre of the Cinderella Castle at Disney Credit to Sarah C. This is a picture of Mikayla F., a freshman in concert 1 band, at Disney Credit to Aravind K. This is a picture of Mickey Mouse Credit to Mickayla F.

ORCHESTRA RESULTS

Assessment: All superior ratings Disney String Ensemble- 3rd place overall Chamber- 1st place overall

All students went to assessments where they played three pieces in front of three judges; one warm- up and two graded selections. These pieces were graded based on difficulty and the judges provided recorded and written feedback for both the students’ and director’s performance. Each piece received a rating based on a scale of one to five, with one being superior and five being poor. This year, all orchestra ensembles and bands received superior ratings. Students also participated in sight reading where students had seven minutes to prepare a piece that they and their director had never seen before and after the time was up, performed it in front of the judges for a rating. Orchestra students started preparing their music in January by rehearsing the music together in class. They also had a playing test based on the music that they played for assessment. While learning the music, they focused on musical concepts such as the key and time signature, rhythm, intonation, and aspects of the bow that bring out emotion in the piece. Orchestra director Mr. Oppenheimer said about bow usage, “All the different tools that we have to really bring out the meaning of the music and not just the notes or rhythms. That expressive, musical side of the whole process, and that’s ultimately what I think is the most important part.” Band students prepared by participating in a program ran by their director Mr. V called smart music where students work on rhythms and notes in the music, but not dynamics or playing ability, which they rehearse in class. Similarly, during the Disney trip, orchestra students competed and were judged. The competition at Disney is called Festival Disney and students were rated similar in fashion to the format at assessments. Additionally, students were ranked, and based on these rankings, awards were given. While during assessment all students played, not everyone attended the Disney trip. Youna Wang, a freshman in the philharmonic orchestra said, “Not everyone goes to Disney, so there’s less people, so it might affect the outcome.” Regardless, both Oakton orchestras that participated did well, with string ensemble receiving the award for 3rd place orchestra overall and chamber orchestra earning the award for 1st place orchestra overall. Contrary to orchestra students, band students did not compete at Disney, but instead participated in a sight reading workshop with a professional trumpet player. Mikayla Feldman, a freshman in concert one band said about the trumpet player, “Of course, I knew he was a trumpet player because he had the personality from the moment he stepped in to the moment he stepped out.” This experience stuck with her because she learned valuable skills about sight reading saying, “If you’re sight reading, give it your all the first time and don’t be lazy about it.” All music students did phenomenally at assessment as well as Disney this year and Oakton High School is proud of all their accomplishments.