By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Sitka High and Mt. Edgecumbe High music directors were pleased to see a high number of their performers qualify for this year’s Southeast Honor Music Festival.
But the highlight for SHS Music Director Mike Kernin was just seeing the kids come together again and for the festival to happen at all, after last year’s event had to be virtual because of the pandemic.
“Overall it was fantastic after not doing it for a year,” he said. “It was fantastic to get the kids back together to play.”
Heather Gluth, music director for Mt. Edgecumbe, agreed that it was a positive experience. It was the first time she got to attend the honors event in person, since last year’s was virtual.
“It was exciting to see how students from Edgecumbe became inspired by music after working with their peers,” Gluth said.
The festival was held October 24-26 in Ketchikan and drew kids from Sitka High, Mt. Edgecumbe, Petersburg, Metlakatla, Craig, Juneau-Douglas, Thunder Mountain, Wrangell and Haines.
Kernin said nine of the 38 choir members and 11 of the band members were from Sitka. Those selected for first chair of their sections in band were Darby Osborne, bass clarinet; Tyler Andres, alto sax, Jason Young, tenor sax, and Mina Brooks-Schmidt, French horn.
Also selected for the honor band were Theo Everson, Asa Dow, Kat Rhoads, flute; Angelo Elefante, Hanna Davila, and Anna Prussian, trombone; and Stephen McGraw, percussion.
Sitka High choir members were Aitana Gluth (1st chair), Dyana Mutchler Walsh, Izzy Williams (1st chair), Quinton Newsome, Dylan Dumag (1st chair), Emily Blackmon, Josh Gluth, Hailey Silva and Rita Christanson.
From Edgecumbe, three were selected for the choir. All were making their debut at honor fest: Micheel Martin (Juneau), Virginia Pearson (Sitka) and Brooklyn Roland-Dewitt (Sitka).
Kernin said the festival provided a new experience not just for the freshmen but the sophomores as well, since they missed out when the event was held online during the pandemic.
Students were selected based on their audition tapes submitted in September. Music teachers listened together and made selections for 38 choir members and more than 50 in the band.
Kernin said the kids had to follow COVID precautions as usual for activities, but were still able to meet new people and make some friends.
Music director Gluth agreed that the festival was a positive experience.
“It was a really special time for sure,” she said.
Aitana Gluth, an SHS senior, participated last year in the virtual festival, and in person as a freshman, but had commitments in other years. She said she had an enjoyable time performing in the select choir.
“My favorite part was getting to work with a lot of new directors and sing with a lot of people I don’t really know,” she said. “It’s what I imagine the professional world is like, having to learn on the fly, and having to work with people you don’t know or haven’t performed with ... It’s good to know how to work with people you don’t really know.”
She learned a few new pieces that she and other Sitka musicians had been practicing in the three weeks leading up to the festival, and they turned out well, she said.
Jason Young, a junior at Sitka High, was attending his first honor festival, and said he enjoyed “the entire environment” and meeting musicians from around Southeast.
“I love playing with a big and full band with experienced and intelligent musicians,” he said.
He had been practicing the three songs – Courtly Airs and Dances, One Life Beautiful and Undertow – in the weeks leading up to the event.
“It was pretty fun – it was a pretty good concert,” Young said. “It always sounds best in the dress rehearsal but the final product was still pretty good.”
Kernin noted the impact that the pandemic had on music programs, with events canceled, students not taking part, and precautions preventing usual practice. But based on what he saw at the honor fest, he thinks programs will make it back to their former strength.
“The bounceback was really strong,” Kernin said. “Having kids making high-quality music – that was huge for me. Just bringing music back to their hometowns.”
