Ferndale Students Earn Top Honors at MSBOA Festival

The following information was provided by Ferndale Public Schools.

The Ferndale High School Wind Ensemble, Symphony Band, and combined Orchestras (Symphony Strings and Concert Orchestra) all attended the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association (MSBOA) District 4 Band/Orchestra Festival at Walled Lake Northern on Saturday, March 16.

All three groups performed incredibly well, and the panel of judges agreed, giving each group Straight I's in Performance and Sight-Reading. 

In addition, each group got Straight A's in all the assessment subcategories (tone, intonation, rhythm, technique, and interpretation) from all three performance judges. Symphony Band got one B+ in Technique in Sight-Reading, and all other groups received Straight A's in Sight-Reading. 

The bands are conducted by Elon Jamison, K-12 Performing Arts Instructional Lead Teacher and Director of Bands at FHS, and the orchestras are conducted by Ben Moy, Director of Orchestras.

“All the kids played incredibly well and really put on quite a performance for judges and audience alike,” said Jamison. “This was one of our best showings at Festival in several years for such consistent high-level performances from ALL groups. I'm really proud of the kids.”

The Symphony Band performed Coast Guards March by Karl King, The Farewell by Andrew Boysen, Jr., and Cajun Folk Songs by Frank Ticheli.  The Wind Ensemble performed His Honor March by Henry Fillmore, October by Eric Whitacre, and Four Scottish Dances by Malcolm Arnold and arranged for winds by John Paynter.

The FHS combined Orchestras played The Spring by Alan Silva, Fantasia on a 17th Century Tune by Richard Stephan, and Momentum by Richard Meyer.

“Momentum was written in memory of Jan Burchman, a long-time strings teacher in the Okemos school district who passed away from Leukemia.  Two of our judges were longtime friends and colleagues of Jan Burchman, and one of them was a consultant on the piece.  They both expressed how pleased and touched they were by our performance of that piece,” said Moy.

The primary service of the MSBOA is to organize various district and state wide festivals for member schools. These events allow middle and high school members to receive recognitions for their achievements in various musical ensembles. 

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