Area Musicians Experience the Opportunity to Compete

Students from all over the area came to GHS last Saturday to participate in the Wisconsin State Music Association’ annual Solo and Ensemble competition.  

Greendale has been a host location for this event for a few years, and students spend a lot of time preparing to do their best.

“Students had to study a piece of music, learn it and prepare it so they could perform it for a judge.  This is different from concerts in that students are preparing to perform solos on their own, or preparing in small groups rather than one large ensemble,” Choir director Mike Jones said.  “After the student performs, they are critiqued using a number system.  Additionally, the judge shares comments on what the students are doing well and what they can focus on to improve”

Like many students, sophomore Hannah Ramsey enlisted the help of Jones to prepare for the event.

“I chose my songs after Mr. Jones showed me a selection of both classical pieces and musical theatre pieces,” she said.  “I chose Sento Nel core as my classical piece and ‘In His Eyes’ from the musical Jekyll and Hyde because after singing through them I thought they fit my voice the best.”

Sophomore Cassie Stroncek also chose to sing “Sento Nel Core”. In addition, she sang “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” and feels both songs were great choices to perform.

“I wanted to do a musical theater piece that I really enjoyed and although I had never heard it before, I knew that ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’ from Evita was a very strong and fun piece, so I wanted to perform that,” Stroncek said. “I also had to perform a classical piece if I wanted to sing a musical theater piece, so I chose an Italian piece ‘Sento Nel Core’ which was a very interesting and fun piece.”

Ramsey practiced a lot for her performance and feels that it was necessary for her to memorize her songs and tweak things.

“For my performance, I practiced every day during study hall and had voice lessons with Mr. Jones. I did this because to be sure you are putting forth your best performance, you had to practice every day so you know your piece for one thing, and so you can smooth out any continuous mistakes before you perform,” she said.

Stroncek, on the other hand, had a different approach to preparing for her performance.

“I sang my songs over and over again and listened to the songs on youtube to make sure that I had the notes and words correct,” said Stroncek.

For other groups, their lack of practice showed in their performance.

“We had never done this before, so it was new and it did not go the best,” sophomore orchestra student Josie Schmidt, who performed in a group with sophomores Olivia Gnadt and Jovana Dragicevic, said.  “We need to practice more.”

Jones explains the effort the performers put in on their own time to prepare for their concert and the feeling the performers experience after all of their hard work hopefully paid off.

“Students have to wrestle with managing their time efficiently as many of them are involved in other activities outside of school on top of homework and if they are working on a piece as an ensemble, they are constantly working on their interpersonal skills,” he said. “It takes a lot of hard work and planning before the final performance which isn’t always fun, but the feeling of performing your best after preparing for so long is well worth the struggles and learning experiences along the way.”

Performing for a panel of judges is much different than performing for an audience of family and friends, as one might imagine.

“When you perform in a concert or with a group of people with you there is less pressure because there are so many other people around you for the people to focus on, when you perform alone you can feel everyone’s eyes on you and you feel like you can’t mess,” Ramsey said.   “Both performing with a group and alone have good things and bad things that come along with them. With a group you get to blend your voice with others and you can incorporate harmonies, but you don’t get the satisfaction of putting on a great performance by yourself. Whereas when you’re alone it’s a lot more intimidating but it can really help you become comfortable in front of crowds.”

Stroncek felt relieved after her performance, feeling proud with how it went. She also shares her opinion about performing with and without a group.

“I felt relieved because I was very stressed beforehand and I was happy that I didn’t have to worry about anymore. I was also very happy that it had gone well and that the judges were very nice,” said Stroncek. “I prefer performing by myself because I get to choose how it sounds and it allows me to improve my skills because I have to work hard on my own.”

Ramsey feels the same way.

“I felt pretty good after both my performances, sure I made mistakes but everyone does and I got pretty good feedback from the judges,” she said.

Jones is proud of the students’ performances and feels that the Solo and Ensemble Competition is a great opportunity for students to showcase their abilities.

“This is an incredible experience for students.  I constantly see kids overcome fears of performing and they see their hard work pay off with a great performance. Students also learn to be responsible for learning their music on their own and they have to plan out how they’re going to accomplish this long-term goal over the course of 1-3 months,” Jones said. “I thought students did a great job this year.  Everyone walked away with plenty to learn from their own performances,” he said.