Students from area schools will participate in a Wisconsin School Music Association (WSMA) sanctioned District Solo & Ensemble Music Festival hosted at Mineral Point Saturday, March 12. During the festival, which is free and open to the public, students will perform vocal and instrumental solos, duets, trios and small ensembles before an adjudicator.
WSMA music festivals annually attract thousands of students from middle, junior high and high schools throughout Wisconsin. The festival will draw students from a number of area schools, including: Belmont Junior High School, Darlington Elementary/MS, Iowa-Grant Middle School, Iowa-Grant High School, Mineral Point High School, Mineral Point Middle School, Southwestern High School and Southwestern Middle School. Matthew Nevers, music director from Mineral Point High School, will be serving as the festival manager.
“WSMA enjoys a long tradition of providing quality music education experiences to over 100,000 students annually. Festivals provide students with an opportunity to enrich their musical abilities and understandings as they perform and receive feedback from qualified adjudicators, and as they observe and listen to the performances of their peers,” said WSMA Executive Director Timothy Schaid.
WSMA music festivals support school music programs as part of a comprehensive education by encouraging the study of quality music literature; motivating students to prepare and perform to the best of their abilities; improving students’ understanding of music literature and concepts (performance through understanding) and providing a performance assessment to improve individual and group achievement.
For more information on WSMA, go to www.wsmamusic.org.