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Wind Ensemble achieves first Sweepstakes award
The ASMSA Wind Ensemble achieved its first overall Superior rating in Concert Assessment in school history during the Arkansas School Band and Orchestra Region II Concert Contest in March.
This was only the second time that ASMSA’s band has participated in the Concert Assessment, the first being in Spring 2022. The Wind Ensemble also earned a Superior rating in the sight-reading category. It was the second year in a row the group received the top rating in that category.
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“The students have shown dedication and true patience to finetune our performance works and to bring their best to each performance this year,” said Dr. Thomas Dempster, the Wind Ensemble’s director. “For the students, this is a great achievement, particularly for those many students in the ensemble who have never taken part in a Concert Assessment performance. This is also special for our seniors, many of whom did not take part in an in-person assessment at their sending schools prior to ASMSA.
“This accomplishment is a benchmark for the music program — and the students know it and realize it, and it creates a stand I aspire to maintain year to year. For them, scoring Superiors on stage and on sight-reading is even sweeter because they’ll be forever attached to the program as the first band to ever achieve that here in the school’s 30-year history.”
There are five levels of ratings a band may earn from its performance at an assessment competition with Superior being the highest rating. Schools earn a Sweepstakes Award for earning Superior ratings in both the concert and sight-reading categories.
ASMSA’s Sweepstakes Award qualified it to compete at the state competition in April. It was the first time the school participated in the state competition. The Wind Ensemble placed fourth among Class 3A programs from across Arkansas at the state competition.
“It’s my hope that this achievement shows the rest of the state that the music program is strong and that we will provide apt challenges and opportunities for all student musicians,” Dempster said.
