MHS marching band earns highest rating Saturday

The Maricopa High School Marching Rams earned a Superior, the highest rating, during the ABODA Festival Class State Marching Festival at Desert Vista High School Saturday.

The voting was unanimous in the Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Association competition.

“The band gave a wonderful performance that was a fitting culmination of a season that saw a very young band (almost half of the members are freshmen) grow into a remarkable and skilled team of musicians,” said MHS music director Ivan Pour.

The band received praise from the adjudicators for its musicianship and attention to balance and blend.

“Our percussion section was also complimented for their outstanding playing on their percussion feature on ‘Variations on a Korean Folk Song,’” Pour said.

The panel of experts were: John Green, director Falcon Ridge Middle School, Apple Valley, Minn.; Jeff Goldsmith, former band director, New Brighton, Minn.; and Ken Capshaw, retired director of bands from Coronado High School, El Paso, Texas.

Pour thanked the Band Boosters “for the countless hours they have put in over the course of the marching season helping with every aspect of the program.”

***ADVERTISEMENT***“It is also important to thank Mr. Jan Gardner and Mr. Kevin Floth, our middle-school band directors for building the fundamental skills our students need to be successful as high school band students,” Pour said.

Up next for the band program, Pour said, is fielding a winter guard and indoor drum line for the Winter Guard Arizona circuit in the spring.

The school’s concert band season will begin with a Pass in Review concert 7 p.m. Dec. 6. The performance will recap the marching season and introduce the MHS Concert Band. Admission is free, but a $5 donation is suggested.