March 7 Results

On Friday night, our two high school jazz groups traveled to Greenfield Central for the ISSMA Jazz Festival. ISSMA provides group numbers (Group 1 - Group 5) for entry that correlate to the difficulty of the literature being performed for high school students, with the pieces on the Group 1 list being more challenging literature and Group 5 the more accessible literature. When we register the students in any of Groups 1, 2, or 3, we are also required to play one piece chosen from a list of pieces provided by ISSMA at the beginning of each school year. Jazz Ensemble was entered in Group 2 this year and earned Gold ratings from all three adjudicators. Six of the soloists in Jazz Ensemble earned Outstanding Soloist recognition as well, meaning that the adjudicators believed they displayed a strong ability to improvise solos in a manner that is reflective of the jazz idiom they were performing. Jazz Orchestra was entered in Group 1 this year and earned Gold ratings from all three adjudicators. Eleven of the soloists in Jazz Orchestra earned Outstanding Soloist recognition.

On Saturday, our A and RA Guards attended IHSCGA State Prelims. This is an event designed to seed ensembles for State Finals and in the case of RA and A class to split guards into divisions that are of equal strengths. In IHSCGA, groups are entered into classes by their directors based on the design of their program and relative skillsets required in performance by the performers. Throughout the season, groups can be promoted or relegated if IHSCGA or WGI deems them to have been improperly classified based on the design or skillset requirements in the program. There is no age designation or descriptor for IHSCGA or Scholastic WGI groups, so you do see junior high students competing against high school students. This year, there are 81 groups in Indiana classified as RA. Our RA ensemble fiinished 6th in their round and 37th out of the 81 overall groups. There are 27 groups in Indiana classified as A. Our A ensemble finished 3rd in their round and 14th out of 27 overall groups.

Our RA group has been placed in the Wilhoit Division for their Finals event and will perform at 6:56 PM at Plainfield HS on Saturday, March 14. Our A group will learn their Division assignment and performance time late this week or early next week. You can see both of these groups along with our Cadet Guard and Audio Theater on Thursday night at our Winter Community Night!