Music department earns top marks at Large Group Festival on Saturday

The CFHS band, chorus and orchestra competed in the Large Group Festival last Saturday, May 5. All groups earned Division I ratings except for one mixed chorus, which received a Division II, missing Division I by one point.

The symphonic band performed “Ignition” by Todd Stalter and “Night Dances” by Bruce Yurko; the wind symphony performed “Armenian Dances” by Alfred Reed.
“Today was an outstanding day for the music department. We’re very proud to have CFHS represented so well and to have so many positive comments from other schools — everyone from parents to kids to directors,” Engelhardt said.

The women’s chorus played “Ah! si mon moine voulait danser” by Donald Patriquin and
“Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day” by John Rutter. The men’s chorus played “Dirait-on” by Morten Laurdisen and “The Quest Unending” by Joseph Martin. The mixed chorus played “Laudate” by Knut Nystedt, “Ave Verum Corpus” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and “Old Time Religion” arranged by Moses Hogan.The concert choir performed “The Battle of Jericho” arranged by Moses Hogan and “Gloria” by Randol Alan Bass.

Except for mixed chorus, they rehearsed for the festival during their normal choir class period. Mixed chorus learned its parts during class time and rehearsed together at various times before and after school last week for a total of two hours.

Mixed chorus’ Division II rating could be due to their lack of regular rehearsals: “This is a talented group of students, and sometimes during a performance things don’t go just the way that you want them to. That is what is unique about music. As a group, you have to perform your best every time to have a good performance,” Kranz said.
“I am very proud of the way all of the Cedar Falls students performed yesterday. It was a great day for the music department, and a great day for Cedar Falls. The contest ran very smoothly with the help of our parent and student volunteers. It is great to be able to perform in your own school,” Kranz said.

The string orchestra performed “St. Paul’s Suite” by Gustav Holst and the full orchestra performed “Egmont” by Ludwig van Beethoven.

The orchestra practiced for contest both during their 4th hour class and learned and practiced their parts individually. “They worked extremely hard in rehearsals. They took practicing the music very seriously,” Hall said.

“Collectively, I think teachers are very appreciative of all the talent and hard work that music students put forth for these contests. It’s their playing that makes this happen,” Hall said.