Rock Creek Choir and Band Students Make State Ensembles
by Lacey Burton and Scott Bradley
March 04, 2010
This year was a very exciting year for the music department at Rock Creek! Between the Band and the Choir, we had four students make it into State Ensembles. This was the most students from Rock Creek in the school’s history. Students rehearsed a total of 16 hours from February 25-27 in Wichita with the performances occurring on the 27th.
Justin Fronce, Senior, broke the eight year gap in having a student participate in the State-Wide Choir. Every year Justin has made it into the North Central KMEA Honor Choir, but this year he finally made it into the State-Wide Choir. The North Central District chooses the top eight singers in each voice section to go to the State-Wide Choir in Wichita. For example: 8 Sopranos, 8 Altos, 8 Tenors, and 8 Basses. It was a wonderful and memorable experience for him to sing with the best singers across the state, and to be able to work with the clinician, Elena Sharkova, who is originally from Russia. Ms. Sharkova kept the choir on their toes with her sense of humor and passion for music. The performance on Saturday afternoon was one that will never be forgotten.
Samuel Cott, Senior Alto Saxophonist; Jana Havens, Senior Flutist; and Brenda Stevenson, Junior Clarinetist made the 1-4A All-State Band. Samuel made the band for the first time and Brenda for the second time. Jana was selected first chair flute and was selected for the third time, the maximum possible. Only about ten percent of the honor group members are three time selectees. The band members are selected through live competitive auditions in January and must have been a member of the District Band in order to qualify. The experience was a wonderful one for the band members, made even more special by their director Dennis Fisher who directs the University of North Texas Wind Ensemble, widely regarded as one of the top bands in the world.
