St. Anne's wins MusicFest Nationals Gold Standing

The St. Anne’s Catholic Secondary School Concert Band, under the direction of Mr. Josh Geddis, competed at MusicFest Nationals in Niagara Falls on Monday, May 11, where they won a Gold standing. 

 

To attend this national festival, bands must first qualify with a high standing at a regional competition. The band received its invitation to Nationals at the MusicFest Regional Festival in Blyth this past March. This year, the national competition featured over 8,000 students from across the country, representing more than 300 ensembles competing at the highest level. 

 

The 33 members of the St. Anne’s Concert Band performed three challenging pieces and received fantastic feedback from their adjudication panel. They featured local composer Jeff Christmas’ piece “Songs of Karegnondi,” which tells the story of the Great Lakes Storm of 1913, alongside another Canadian work, “Chasing Sunlight” by Cait Nishimura. The band closed its set with a performance of New York composer Michael Markowski’s new piece, “Vigilante.” 

 

At the national competition, bands participate in a one-hour workshop with an adjudicator following their performance. At the conclusion of this session, the band received an “Excellence in Clinic” award, which is reserved for groups that respond exceptionally well during the hour-long clinic. 

 

Logan Allman also received a National Honour Award for his outstanding performance and leadership in the band. 
“I am very proud of what these students have accomplished this year,” said Geddis. “It has been a landmark year for our band with a Gold standing at Regionals and a First Place with Distinction at Stratford Kiwanis. The Gold standing at Nationals is some well-deserved icing on the cake for this group of hard-working and committed students. I think this is a first for our group, going Gold across all of our performances. The students feel pretty great. There is no ‘AI’-ing your way around a band performance. It boils down to hard work, commitment, and growth over time to achieve something like this. I am so happy that this group gets to see their hard work and dedication pay off.”