Mack Lyon Middle School Musicians Perform For Festival Judges

By MAGGIE MCMURRAY

Moapa Valley Progress

Mack Lyon Middle School music students got a chance to show off skills during the Clark County School District band and orchestra festivals held this month. The orchestra traveled to Las Vegas Academy last week for their festival while the band performed at UNLV’s Ham Hall on a separate day.

Because of low enrollment in the advanced orchestra class this year, teacher Walter White added in a nubmer of intermediate orchestra students to the group.
“I had quite a mix of skill levels,” White said. So we’ve really been working hard with the kids who advanced early”

In the end, White felt that the kids worked hard and did their very best. The judges awarded the group a 2 which is denoted as an Excellent rating. White said that the group received good remarks about the great sound it produced despite its small size.

After the performance, a clinician who had watched the performance worked with the orchestra on some of the areas they could improve. “She came and worked with us and covered the exact thing I have been preaching about for months,” White said. “So it was good for the kids to hear it from someone else as well.”

White was pleased with the effort the kids put in. “They worked very hard and did their best for the judges and we will continue to work and improve for the performances we have coming up the rest of this year,” he said.

The Lyon combined bands also attended band festival earlier this month. Lyon band teacher AJ Burgess took a band that was an impressive 74 players strong by combining both the intermediate advanced bands, which was a logistical feat in and of itself. Band members learned the three festival songs in their own classes, and then stayed after school on two separate occasions to rehearse the entire group before the festival.

The bands performed at UNLV’s Ham Hall before a panel of judges. The bands scored well, especially and also finished the day with an Excellent rating. They got several great comments from the judges who complimented their enthusiasm and potential as young musicians.

This was the first opportunity to play in a festival environment for many of the students and most felt that it was definitely a positive experience.
“It was fun to be a part of the large band,” said trombone player Trevor Witter said. I really enjoyed getting out of school for it. It was a fun day.”

This was Burgess’s first opportunity to show off his bands at festival as it is his first year teaching and his first year at Lyon. A native of Massachusetts, he recently graduated from the University of Nebraska Lincoln with a master’s degree in conducting before moving to Overton.

Burgess was pleased with how his combined band presented themselves and the effort they made.
“I’m really proud of the work that all the students put in and I’m excited to continue to work with them throughout the rest of the year,” Burgess said.