On Friday, March 7th, Goodhue School hosted the large group band contest. The schools that participated in the contest were Goodhue, Cannon Falls, Randolph, Pine Island Band and Orchestra, Kenyon Wanamingo, Zumbrota Mazeppa, Bethlehem Academy, and Medford. All these bands put on quite a show for the judges and did their best to wow them. Every group that attended got a rating. The Superior rating was the highest, second was Excellent, and lastly, Good. Cannon Falls High School’s band received a Superior rating this year, and Cannon Falls residents couldn’t be prouder. The band played the songs Awakening Hills by Richard Saucedo and Appalachian Folk Song Suit by Robert W. Smith.
A Freshman, Alyssa Burgess, commented “I’m really happy that I joined band and get to play amazing and beautiful pieces. Not to mention, I now get to meet great people and get to go hear other bands play.” The rest of the schools, Randolph, Pine Island Band, Kenyon Wanamingo, and Zumbrota Mazeppa, all too received superior ratings and were such a sight to see. Goodhue had received an Excellent rating, along with the Pine Island Orchestra, Bethlehem Academy, and Medford. All the bands that received an excellent rating were still amazing to hear.
On the same date, Goodhue hosted the Large Group Choir contest. The schools that indulged in this activity were Pine Island, Kenyon Wanamingo, Zumbrota Mazeppa, Goodhue, Cannon Falls, Medford, and Randolph. Goodhue, the hosting school, received an excellent rating as did Cannon Falls and Medford schools. Pine Island received a superior rating for their amazing singing, as well as, Kenyon Wanamingo, Zumbrota Mazeppa, and Randolph. These choirs gave amazing performances to listen to, and the judges agreed. The songs that Cannon Falls sang were De Profundis by Russell Robinson, Take O Take Those Lips Away by Emma Lou Diemer, and Does the World Say by Kyle Pedersen.
All of the students who participated had a great experience. Though the Cannon Falls Choir only got an excellent rating Mrs. Broring is proud of how they did. She has commented “Our choir made many improvements on our music throughout February and March. We focused on musicality, fixing things like dynamics (the volume of the music) and technique (vowel shape, choral tone, etc.). I saw lots of improvement and was happy with our score.” Mr. Legvold was excited to tell his band class that they received the rating of superior. This competition was really cool and students got to see other schools, some of which had Cellos, and other cool and unusual instruments. On Tuesday, March 25 both band and choir will be performing their pieces for the community. The band performance starts at 6:30 pm and the choir performance is right after, at 7:30 pm.
