Chelsea bands earn high marks in state competition

The Chelsea Middle and High School bands received excellent scores at the State Music Performance Assessment on March 9. 

The MPA consists of a performance of three prepared pieces and a sight reading competition, which is where bands must perform a piece they have never practiced before.

“That’s where the teaching really comes out,” high school band director Dane Lawley said.

The seventh grade and eighth-grade bands both earned straight 1s from judges, giving them a Superior Rating. Middle school band director Deana Rizzo said she is “extremely proud” of the middle school students’ performances, especially since the seventh grade band had to meet at 6:15 a.m. once a week in January and February to practice. Rizzo’s son is in the eighth grade band, so she knows a lot of her students without their instruments.

“On a personal level, I’ve watched those kids grow up outside of the band,” Rizzo said. “There’s a sentimental attachment there.”

The high school concert band also received a Superior Rating, and the wind ensemble received all As from the judges for a Superior Rating with Distinction. Lawley said his students put in a lot of hard work to get ready for the MPAs. He’s also proud of Rizzo, who has been the middle school band director for 22 years and was previously one of his students. Lawley was Rizzo’s band director from sixth-grade through high school.

“I’m equally as proud of the middle school as I am of the high school,” Lawley said. “ [Rizzo’s] strong teaching is part of the reason we’re at this level at the high school.”

The middle and high school bands will next perform at their spring concert. The beginner’s band will perform May 5, the seventh and eighth grade bands on May 7 and the high school bands on May 8.