As the new year settles in, February arises with frantic teachers and stressed musicians; afterall, it is assessment season. Annually, this time of year tends to bring hard rehearsals, extra practicing, and teacher’s patience tested. This year, the difficulty of music is exponentially harder than some previous years. Woodgrove has also been a Blue Ribbon school for two consecutive years, and are looking to add another to the collection this year. According to the Virginia Music Educators Association, “the VMEA Blue Ribbon Award is the highest award given to schools’ music programs in the Commonwealth of Virginia and recognizes achieved excellence in Band, Orchestra, and Choral Performance. All disciplines in a school must receive a rating of “Superior” at assessment to qualify for this award.” All Woodgrove music ensembles will perform for three adjudicators, and if they receive all “ones” on prepared selections and sightreading, they will be given a “Superior” rating.
Generally, music directors are able to purchase music online and then use it for graded assessments. To determine the difficulty of the pieces, they’re given a grade level, one being the easier and six being the hardest. Mrs. Samantha Oakley, Woodgrove’s Orchestra and Guitar Director and the Loudoun Symphony Youth Orchestra Symphonic Interim Conductor, is taking Chamber orchestra and the combined Symphonic-Concert Orchestra to assessments. Mrs. Oakley describes grade one music as beginning ensemble music, whereas grade six music is compared to standard literature. The Chamber orchestra will be performing a grade five-six split, meaning some pieces are grade six and some are grade five. Mr. Ryan Dempsey, Woodgrove Band Director, will be combining concert band and wind ensemble, and will also be performing on a grade five-six split. Mrs. Samantha Morgan, Woodgrove Choir Director will take Bella Voce, Woodgrove Singers, and Chamber Choir to assessments.
Preparing for assessments takes a lot of work not only on the music ensembles as a whole, but also on the individuals. Senior Ashley Gingerich performs with the Woodgrove Singers, and she also will be going with the Chamber Orchestra. Gingerich is in an atypical position, due to scheduling conflicts, she has to take an alternative route with rehearsals and use an independent study. “I work with [sophomore] Emma Edwards and we go through the cello music together. We practice our parts and listen to a lot of recordings. Occasionally Mrs. Oakley will work with us, but it’s much different from being with the class,” said Gingerich. Senior Riley Murphy is part of the Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band. “Being in two bands is nice because I end up playing music everyday in school rather than half the time. This season is always difficult because you are spending weeks perfecting every little rhythm, articulation, and motif to make it perfect for one performance,” said Murphy.
Rehearsals and extra time outside of class can sometimes bring down energy in school and it can be challenging to keep morale high right before assessments. There is a lot of time that goes into assessments, with musical clinics, pre-assessments, and the event itself. As the time moves closer, the Woodgrove music departments are surely moving and grooving to hit those superior ratings.
