Competing with music: students participate in band festivals
More stories from Morgan Dellinger
Griggs and Makosky at Regional Band
There are several different band festivals that Pennsylvania offers and they occur all throughout the year.
Band festivals are actually part concert, part competition where musicians get together and compete to see who is the best. Those people then will move on to higher band festivals.
There are two students at Carlisle High School that have been to all of the festivals in Pennsylvania. These students are senior Annie Griggs and sophomore Herman Makosky. Griggs has been selected as first chair clarinet in all except for one of the festivals and Makosky has done very well also as an accomplished trumpet player.
Related: Students qualify for Regional Band
Byron Mikesell is the band director and head of the music department. He accompanies Griggs and Makosky to most of the band festivals and district band competitions.
Mikesell said,” I love to go to the band festivals and watch all of these amazing students make a difference in their musical careers.”
What the students do at the festivals is they will go to a host school on a Thursday and perform that Saturday. When they get there they have to audition to see what chair they get and what parts they play. Next they will practice for about ten to twelve hours a day, depending on the festival. Then on that Saturday they will perform for an audience of students, parents, recruiters, teachers and other interested parties.
Griggs said, “ It is a way to talk to all of my friends and it is a great thing to put on college applications.”
Griggs has been going to festivals for the last five years and Makosky has been going to them for four years.
Makosky said,” As a sophomore it is really fun to meet all of these new people and learn new skills with my trumpet.”
Competitions are usually based on students in a particular area, starting with county, then districts, regionals and states. Students can also go further in competition depending on the year and opportunities available.
Starting today, Thurs Mar 25, Griggs and Makosky will be attending the PMEA All-State Band in Hershey.
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Gabriela Menendez • Oct 26, 2015 at 11:04 am
I would love to attend this. There are so many talented students in Carlisle alone, I am sure I would be blown away.
Erin Newcomer • Apr 24, 2015 at 8:01 am
I think its super cool that they get the opportunity to do this! I use to play the clarinet and I know its not an easy thing to do. The fact that they’ve been to so many of these competitions is amazing and a cool accomplishment for the school. I know Annie and I can say that she’s amazing at all she does!
Jessica Brumbach • Mar 27, 2015 at 8:21 am
It’s really cool that they are able to do this. I used to play the viola, and it takes a lot of hard work to keep up, so this is probably a big accomplishment for them! I would like to go to a festival sometime and see what it’s like.
Julia • Mar 27, 2015 at 7:57 am
It’s really cool that they have these competitions. I wish they had let us know so that we could have attended