Members of the Watauga High School Band
On Tuesday, March 21, the Watauga High School band program performed at MPA (Music Performance Adjudication) and received the highest possible score for their performance, a “Superior”.
For the band program at WHS, MPA is an opportunity for musicians to expand their performing skills. Students perform their pieces in front of a panel of judges to receive a score and feedback on their performance.
“There are three adjudicators that sit in the audience and give [us] constructive feedback on what we did well and what we need to work on,” said WHS Band Director Taryn Wooten.
Aside from playing pieces the band selected for a panel of adjudicators, the band had to perform a sight reading piece, too. Unlike the pieces they selected, the band had never seen the sight reading piece before.
“We do sight reading, which is where we have five minutes to look at and prepare a piece of music that none of us has ever seen,” said Wooten. “It’s usually easier music than the music we performed for the judges.”
Preparing for MPA was no easy task for the WHS band program. Members of the band program put months of hard work and dedication into preparing for MPA.
“To prepare for MPA we practiced our pieces during Jazz band months in advance and also did flex sessions where we would all play together,” said senior Stevie Helms, a member of the Jazz band who played timpani, bells, and xylophone for MPA. “We would also do these checkups on Canvas where we would play a certain amount of measures every week to make sure we were really prepared.”
MPA allows musicians from various backgrounds to practice their performance, sight reading, and instrumentation skills. Using the feedback received from the judges at MPA, the WHS band looks forward to continuing their growth in musical abilities.
“[MPA] is a process that teaches students how to focus and have long-term goals,” said Wooten. “That's an important life skill, and being able to work towards something and try to be the very best at something is what we want for you all when you go out into the real world.”
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