PHS Band Celebrates Winter Achievements

The Plymouth High School Band has had an outstanding winter with numerous accomplishments at the local and state level.

In January and February, the band department hosted two weekends of solo and ensemble competition for the Indiana State School Music Association. This was the first time Plymouth has hosted this event for the state music association. Over the course of the two events, hundreds of students from schools in four counties came to Plymouth High School to compete.

On January 25th, Plymouth competed at their home event and had nearly thirty student entries qualify for the ISSMA Solo and Ensemble State Finals event. To qualify for state finals, students must enter the Group 1 division, which is the hardest level of competition. Students must perform difficult music from a state-approved music list and then, earn a Gold Award rating at the district event.

“All of our Wind Ensemble students who competed in the event advanced to the state finals contest. I am extremely proud of this group of kids. We also had several kids from the Symphonic Band and Jazz Ensemble who also advanced to state at this event,” said PHS band director Bryan Ames.

More recently, the Plymouth High School Jazz Ensemble competed in the ISSMA Jazz Contest on Friday, March 3rd, at La Porte High School. The band earned solid gold ratings from all three judges to receive the Gold Award rating and additionally, received a “With Distinction Award” for all three judges scores combined being a nearly perfect score. Senior Brian Hernandez earned an “Outstanding Soloist Award” at the event for his trombone improvisational solo.

“I was very pleased with the performance our jazz students gave. They have worked very hard for this event for a couple of months and their hard work paid off,” said Ames. “I was very proud of our soloists and how much they have improved this semester. Improvisational solos are very difficult to do and these kids have done a fantastic job.”

Congratulations to the Plymouth High School Band students on their winter success.