The MHS band posing with Erin Mazza during the MICCA competition. Photo submitted by Alissa Schopp.
On Saturday April 27th, the Malden High School Band participated in MICCA, a musical competition in which many schools participate throughout the state. The competition took place at Concord-Carlisle High School. A total of 15 Malden High School students attended the event.
The team received a silver medal in this year’s competition, which is the highest score that the team has earned in the past decade. The team competed in the solo and chamber festival, but only the wind ensemble went to this year’s competition. The band played “Afternoon of the Faun” by Claude Debussy during this competition.
This year the team was completely student-run, which is different from how it has been done in past years, which instructor Erin Mazza band director explains as “very difficult for [her]” due to the fact that she was “completely hands off.”
Leading up to the competition the team worked hard and practiced often in order to receive a great outcome. Alissa Schopp, president of the band explained how “[they] practiced [their] song everyday in class,” and for a grade, band members were expected to practice after school 40 minutes a week.
In addition, this year was unlike others do to the fact that the band focused a lot on “the small details of [their] song.” Since there were so few members this year, “[they] practiced this piece a whole lot and perfected a lot of small details.” said Schopp
Mazza explains that she believed that the band did so well due to the fact that the group is “A group of very talented students.” She mentions that that she had worked with the members of the band since they were freshmen and “[they all] kind of grew together! All of their hard work over their high school career paid off!”
Although the team did do fantastic, it was still a very difficult event to pull off and receive such a high score. Schopp explains that “the most difficult part was relying on each other, for [their] piece,” since a conductor is not allowed during the competition, and they had to listen to each other and take visual cues in order to remain organized.
The team is looking forward to next year, however, Malden High will see some major shifts in the the people who will be playing; “[they are] going to have a completely new group, since most of the kids are graduating this year,” and each new group brings new instruments and new challenges, said Mazza
The team will be participating in MICCA next year and is looking forward to the next season and the work and fun that it will bring.
