Band Awards Night 2008

Director's Award - Maggie Hines, Morgan Hrab, Felix Lee, Eric Qiu, and Jimmy Zhan
Satchmo Award - Blake Jones

Maryland State Middle School Band Festival - CONGRATULATIONS TO MR. SMITH AND OUR CMS WIND ENSEMBLE!!! The Wind Ensemble received an Overall Superior rating at the State Middle School Band Festival. They received straight “I’s” for stage performance and sight reading. The judges were very impressed with the level of music our band is playing as well as the dedication from both our students and our Band Director.

Music in the Parks
Six Flags America 2008

This year the CMS Music Department entered the Music in the Parks, Six Flags America event. The CMS Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, Orchestra, and Choir all performed at this event, which was organized by Ms. Beck.

For the event the students perform at a host school where they are judged. After their performance, they change clothes and enjoy the rest of the day at an amusement park. This year the host school was River Hill High School and the park was Six Flags America. At the end of the day the competition results are announced.

Our Wind Ensemble received the Overall Junior High/Middle School Concert Band Award, 1st Place Award, and received a Superior rating. Our Jazz Band received the Overall Junior High/Middle School Jazz Ensemble Award, 1st Place Award, and received a Superior rating. Also Blake Jones received Outstanding Soloist award for her performances with the Jazz Ensemble.

The Orchestra received the Overall Junior High/Middle School Orchestra Award, 1st Place Award, and Superior rating while the Choir placed 3rd overall. All of these groups had outstanding performances and worked very hard for this event.

Congratulations to the CMS Music Department on outstanding performances by our Choir, Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, and Jazz Band. Thank you Ms. Beck for organizing and running this event! Also thanks to all our parents that chaperoned this ALL day event!

Our Concert Band received very complementary comments from the adjudicators at the 2008 Middle School Band Festival held at River Hill High School on April 16th. They said our tone quality was excellent, intonation was wonderful, balance was AWESOME!, interpretation was beautiful, music effect was excellent, and we have a very disciplined group. All of the adjudicators enjoyed our performance. Congratulations Concert Band on a fine performance!

Our Wind Ensemble received an overall Superior rating for their performance at the 2008 District XIII Middle School Band Adjudication held at Hammond High School.

We received a "I" for our stage performance with PERFECT SCORES from all 3 judges!!! We also received a “I” in sight reading. Mr. Smith can’t remember when he received perfect scores across the board for an adjudication. The performance was SPECTACULAR and featured a very difficult score titled "Variations on a Korean Folk Song". Mr. Smith had many people come up to him and congratulate him and the Wind Ensemble on an outstanding performance.

CONGRATULATIONS WIND ENSEMBLE! WE ARE VERY PROUD OF YOUR ACHIEVEMENT!

Our Jazz Band attended the 2008 Maryland Jazz Conference held at Towson University. The Conference featured the Maryland All State Jazz Band and performance clinics for participating school jazz bands and combos.

Our clinician, Dr. Charles Kinzer, who is Professor of Music at Longwood University, worked with our group for 90 minutes and provided valuable feedback. We performed three selections for Dr. Kinzer and he played with the Jazz Band on "Green Onions".

Dr. Kinzer in an email said "I really enjoyed working with the Clarksville Middle Jazz Band!! I was blown away by the maturity and musical ability displayed throughout the group. The trumpet and sax soloists were way ahead of the game for their ages, and all the instrumentalists seemed to have a great fundamental start on their musical educations. Hats off to Dave and to the private teachers on the various instruments – they are doing a fantastic job."

It was a pleasure to work with Dr. Kinzer. Thank You!

On January 17, 2008 Chris Vadala held a Masterclass with the Jazz Band during morning rehearsal. Professor Vadala is one of the country's foremost woodwind artists and is the Director of Jazz Studies and Saxophone Professor at the University of Maryland.

Professor Vadala was very impressed with the jazz band and said he would happily jam with this group anytime. Thank you for your time Professor Vadala!

Symphonic Full Orchestra
This year CMS has decided to have a Symphonic Full Orchestra. The band member who were selected by audition are:

Oboe Olivia Rojas; Flutes Pauline Shih, Marisa Shultz; Clarinets Morgan Hrab, Felix Lee; Bass Clarinet Jenny Mandl; Bassoon Hannah Young; Alto Saxophones Arjun Adapa, Kelly Gregory; Trumpets Ryan Gregory, Maggie Hines; French Horns Victoria Rowe, Erica Kocher, Joey Haavik; Trombones Bernie McNamee, Steven Wolf; Percussion Sameena Bajwa, Ryan Block, Marc Fleming.

Congratulations to the orchestra and thanks to all who auditioned!

Our Wind Ensemble received an overall Superior rating from the adjudicators at the Washington Archdiocesan Music Teacher's Council Band Festival. We received two I's and one II in our stage performance and received a II in sight reading. Of the fifteen participating schools, most were high schools. CMS was one of only two middle schools to perform at this festival.

Junior All State Band Members
This year we have a total of four (4) students selected for the Junior All State Band! Congratulations to Morgan Hrab, Felix Lee, Eric Qiu, and Jimmy Zhan.

Howard County GT Band Members
Arjun Adapa, Alicia Bazell, Maggie Hines, Morgan Hrab, Felix Lee, Bernie McNamee, Eric Qiu, Pauline Shih, Jimmy Zhan, Oliver Zhao and alternates Jack Dannelly and Sebin Lee.

Jazz Band Members
Alto Saxes: Blake Jones, Arjun Adapa
Tenor Saxes: Sarah Jin, Terrance Howell
Baritone Sax: Jack Dannelly
Trumpets: Maggie Hines, Evan Johnson, Alex Cain, Sebin Lee, Brian Zhu, Matt Gross, Everest Liu, Harriyson Shu
Trombones: Nathan Raifsnider, Jackson Feroe, London Copper-Trondel, Steven Wolf, Bernie McNamee
Guitar: Karan Sinah, alternate Daniel Raifsnider
Bass: Louis Celano, Brad Jones
Piano: Noah Scholl, Daniel Pham
Drums Eliott Yozwiak, Taariq Mohammed, Albert Nam

Last Modified October 13, 2008