SEQUIM TAKES 17 TO ALL-STATE BAND

Sequim High School is sending 17 representatives to the all-state Washington Music Educators Annual Conference this February. Photo by Michael Dashiell

SHS musicians qualify for February conference, concert

By Michael Dashiell
and Avani Nadkarni
Staff writers

Homework has never sounded so sweet.

A school-record 17 musicians from Sequim High School — 16 wind symphony musicians and jazz bassist Taylor Ackley — are headed to the Washington Music Educators Annual Conference, slated for Feb. 15-18 in Yakima.

An amalgamation of exhibitions, music lessons and performances, the state music conference will likely draw about 1,000 educators/sponsors and 3,000 students to the Yakima Convention Center this February, says association vice president Kevin Paustian.

Among the hordes of musicians will be plenty of Sequim purple and gold. Of the 70 players in the small schools’ wind ensemble — schools 2A or smaller — nearly a quarter of those are from Sequim.

By far, that’s the most ever from Sequim High, says band director Vern Fosket.

“I think we’re doing pretty good,” he says. “Usually, the most I take is one.”

The conference features a number of top music groups from academia and the world-renown United States Army Brass Quintet.

But the real draw for high school students isn’t listening to other musicians but getting to learn from and play with some of the top musical minds in the region.

“(This includes) experience working with a college director working with the best kids in the state ? and playing with the other kids; it’s invaluable,” Fosket said.

The all-state experience is different from the solo/ensemble contests a number of Sequim musicians played at Feb. 9 in Port Angeles: there, Sequim soloists, duets, quartets and ensembles played against each other for spots at a statewide competition slated for late April in Ellensburg. All-state musicians, however, are chosen based upon three pieces they record on video and send to state judges.

“One (solo and ensemble) is more of a solo endeavor where they really have to work hard on one piece,” Fosket said, “while the other (all-state) is getting to work with the higher caliber conductors and kids from around the state. It’s a great experience.”

Wind ensemble players arrive in Yakima Feb. 15 and rehearse for six or seven hours each day, Fosket said, and cap it off with a concert at 9:30 a.m., Feb. 18 at the All-State Gala Capitol Concert at Yakima’s Capitol Theatre.

Ackley and other all-state jazz band players arrive Feb. 14 and play a concert on Feb. 17.

Rowan Kaufman — bassoon
Although Kaufman, a junior, says she has mastered the tenor saxophone and is a percussionist, she has been playing the bassoon for only a year and said she was “shocked” when she found out she made All-State Band. “I just love music,” Kaufman explains.

Andrea King — flute
All-State Band competition-bound junior Andrea King says music is in the genes.

“My mom and my sister play the flute,” she says of her instrument of choice. “My family is really musical and I love it because I can play with them.”

Around the holidays, King says, her family gets together and plays Christmas songs at home.
“It’s so much fun,” King says.

It’s no surprise, then, that celebrating King’s accomplishment involved the whole family: “I’ve been shooting for it, so they’re really excited for me.”

Kristen Torres — clarinet
After playing the clarinet for a few years, Torres, a sophomore, had the opportunity to switch to saxophone, but she refused.

“I just got really into this,” she says, holding up her shiny clarinet. “I didn’t want to switch.”

Torres says she chose the instrument in fifth grade when she and her best friend at the time wanted to choose something different.

“I find joy in playing the clarinet,” she says. “I love being able to play an instrument.”

Ben Spray, Mike Sager, Matthew Grey — trombone
Unlike Spray, who says he chose to play the trombone from the start, fellow All-State band members Grey and Sager say they originally chose other instruments but youth band teachers guided them toward the trombone.

“I was originally going to play the flute, but I couldn’t play at all,” Grey laughs. “I’m glad I switched, though.”
For Sager, the choice was a little more random.

“(My first band director) wouldn’t let me play the drums, so I picked the instrument with the best name,” he says. “It was the trombone.”

Baritone horn player Aaron Hodge shares a similar story.

“I was going to play the tuba (in elementary school) but I was too small,” he said, causing his friends to burst into laughter.

As for the announcement of making All-State Band, Hodge said it was an unexpected surprise for all four of them.

“None of us expected it at all,” he said. “We were all shocked.”

Taylor Ackley — jazz bass
Unlike the rest of the group, who will travel to Yakima as part of the school’s wind ensemble, senior Taylor Ackley is going earlier as the lone representative of the jazz band.

“I was really excited (to hear the news),” Ackley says. “I’ve gone to state before with choir, but not with band.”

Although Ackley has been playing music nearly his whole life, he said he’s been playing the jazz bass for only two years. He’s also been chosen as the only jazz bass player for all of Washington state. 

“My family’s all really musical,” Ackley says. “I really enjoy the freedom allowed on the bass.”

Kyla Hall — clarinet
Hall started the clarinet in the fourth grade and took private lessons for a while. She’s been playing the instrument for six years in all.

“I like that it’s really light and it’s easy to play,” she says.

Hall, a fan of big band jazz and particularly clarinetist Benny Goodman, maintains the clarinet is an important part of Sequim’s band.

The first SHS player to try out for all-state, Hall says she was happy with her first try but found the machine didn’t record, and she had to redo it.

“I thought, ‘Oh, I butchered the piece,’” Hall says of her second try. “But apparently it was good.”

Aaron Hodge — euphonium (baritone horn)
Hodge spells out his instrument’s name, and admits it wasn’t his first choice.

“I wanted to play tuba but I was really short so (they said), ‘You can’t carry a tuba, but here’s a miniature tuba,’ which is, in essence, what it is,” Hodge says.

He’s been playing since fifth grade.

“I really like how it’s not heavy and how I can still get the higher pitch than the tuba, so you get the low parts and high parts,” Hodge says. “It’s really well mixed.”

Passing the all-state test was tough, he notes, particularly when one is concentrating on articulating certain notes.

“If you’re stressed then you can’t really play them,” Hodge says. “The more afraid you get, the more horrible you play.”

Katie Gallauher — trumpet
“My mom played trumpet,” Gallauher says. “I always thought it would be cool because she played in school and I want to be like my mom.”

A trumpet player since sixth grade, the Sequim junior says she’s looking forward to hanging out with her classmates in Yakima.

Jennifer Newell — clarinet
A five-year veteran of the clarinet, Newell says family tradition keyed her interest in the instrument.
“I didn’t actually want to play the clarinet, but my dad had one since he played in high school so I got stuck with it,” She says.

And that signature clarinet sound?

“I think it sounds like a dying duck,” Newell says. “It’s fun most of the time except for when it squeaks and sounds like a dying animal.”

Normally a third-clarinet part (easiest) player at Sequim, she’ll be playing second clarinet at the all-state conference.
“I don’t think I’m that good but I made it to all-state, so that’s pretty cool,” Newell says.

Lindsey Moore — trumpet
A trumpet player since sixth grade, Moore, a sophomore, says she’s really influenced by Miles Davis and particularly likes Davis’ seminal 1959 album “Kind of Blue.”

Moore describes the audition process as “really nerve-wracking.”

The last part (you have to play) high notes really fast,” Moore says.

Robert Blenk — French horn
A trumpet player through middle school, Blenk switched to French horn as a freshman.
Now a junior, he says the instrument can make some beautiful music.

“The best word I’ve heard to describe this is regal,” Blenk says. “You can make it sound very bright and happy and yet it can ? sound really mournful.”

But it isn’t without some difficulties. The French horn, Blenk reveals, has the smallest mouthpiece among brass instruments, allowing for a change in pitch with only the slightest change in aperture.

Stevie Holloway — trumpet
As a young student living on Bainbridge Island, Holloway and fellow fifth-graders tried out instruments to see what they might be best at. Although he was obsessed with saxophone, Holloway found he had a knack for the trumpet, so he tried it.

“I couldn’t put it down,” Holloway says. “It’s got a really good tone, a good sound to it.”

But the trumpet can be a challenge, he says. With just three valves to use, each finger position can produce eight notes.
“It was hard to get used to, but it’s easier now,” Holloway says.

All-state band members
Taylor Ackley - Jazz Band - bass-jazz
Robert Blenk - Wind Symphony - French horn
Claire Downing - Wind Symphony - bass clarinet
Katie Gallauher - Wind Symphony - trumpet (cornet)
Matt Grey - Wind Symphony - trombone
Kyla Hall - Wind Symphony - Bb clarinet
Aaron Hodge - Wind Symphony - euphonium (baritone horn)
Stevie Holloway - Wind Symphony - trumpet (cornet)
Daylee Joers - Wind Symphony - oboe
Rowan Kaufman - Wind Symphony - bassoon
Andrea King - Wind Symphony - flute
Lindsey Moore - Wind Symphony - trumpet (cornet)
Jennifer Newell - Wind Symphony - Bb clarinet
Mike Sager - Wind Symphony - trombone
Ben Spray - Wind Symphony - trombone
Rachel Torrence - Wind Symphony - tenor Saxophone
Kristen Torres - Wind Symphony - Bb clarinet