On March 6th, Cannon Falls High School hosted the 2024 Large Group Contest. CFHS welcomed seven schools to compete. Hired judges listened to every piece and awarded each school with a rating: Superior, Excellent, Average, Below Average, or Poor.
The CFHS Band played at the large group contest and got a superior rating, which is the highest rating available. They played “Angelic Festival” by Richard Saucedo and “West Highlands Sojourn” by Robert Sheldon.
The other schools that attended also performed very well. Bethlehem Academy received an excellent rating with their rendition of “Half Moon on the Hudson” by Michael Sweeny and “Fire!” By Gary P. Gilroy. Goodhue High School got a superior rating and played “The American Festival March” by Jerry Nowak and “Anjin: Blue-Eyed Samurai” by Naoya Wada. Kenyon-Wanamingo got a superior rating and performed “Carmina Burana (Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi)” by Carl Orff and “The Witch and the Saint” by Steven Reineke and Matt Conaway. Medford High School received a superior rating by playing “Canto” by Francis McBeth and “Ave Verum Corpus” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Pine Island Band and the Pine Island Orchestra both got a superior rating. Randolph High School got a superior rating on their performance of “The Rowan Tree” by Randall Standridge and “Klezmer Dances” by Stephen Bulla. Last but not least, Zumbrota-Mazeppa got a superior rating and played “Brighton Beach Concert March” by William P. Latham and “On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss” by David R. Holsinger. Lastly, they played “The Matrix” by Robert Sheldon.
All these schools gathered and played their pieces in the high school gym. Band director Mr. Legvold said, “I was very proud of my students for getting a superior rating.”
Concurrently, the school choirs sang in their large group contest, also hosted at CFHS. The Cannon Falls High School Choir sang “I Am But A Small Voice” by John Coates Jr., “The Pasture from Where The Sea Meets The Sky” by Randall Stroope, and “How Can I Keep From Singing” by Gwyneth Walker. A Cannon Falls freshman who performed a solo commented, “I thought it was super fun and I learned from it. I just wish we had more people and we had a bigger choir but overall we did pretty good as the smallest group there. I wasn’t sure how I felt about my solo though because I was pretty nervous about singing alone, but it helped me become more confident.”
All other attending schools performed beautifully as well. Randolph High School sang “Requiem” by Eliza Gilkyson, and “City Called Heaven” by Josephine Poelinitz. Goodhue High School sang “Chante Waste Hoksila (My Kind Hearted Boy)” by Linthieum-Blackhorse. Zumbrota-Mazeppa High School sang “Dirait-on” by Morton Lauridsen, “Non-Nobis Domine” by Rosephanye Powell, and “He Never Failed Me Yet” by Robert Ray. Kenyon-Wanamingo sang “Esto Les Digo” by Kinley Lange and “We Are The Voices” by Jim Papoulis. Pine Island sang “The Bartered Bride (Opening Chorus)” by Emily Ellsworth, “Even When He Is Silent” by Kim Andre Arnesen, and “Ev’ry Time I Feel The Spirit” by William Dawson. Finally, Bethlehem Academy sang “I Ask For One Day” by Jim Papoulis and “Over My Head” by the Podd Brothers.
This was a very big event for Cannon Falls High School to host, but it went smoothly. Both ensembles received the highest rating, despite being among the smallest there. The directors of both groups are excited to see what next year will bring.
