Four Chimacum High School student musicians took top honors at the North Olympic Regional Solo and Small Ensemble Festival, held at Port Angeles High School on Feb. 3. All four students will advance to state competition in late April at Central Washington University.

To win the right to advance to state, musicians from CHS, a small 2B school, must outshine musicians from across the region, including many from much larger schools like 1A Port Townsend and 2A Port Angeles.

Judges chosen by the Washington Music Educators Association rate solo and ensemble musical performances on a five-point scale, where one is the best possible rating, and five is the worst. The judges then rank performers who achieve ratings of one, to determine who will advance to compete at the state level.

The winning CHS students included three seniors — alto saxophonist James Van Otten, timpanist Timothy Heemstra, and multi-percussionist Hayden Montgomery — plus one sophomore, snare drummer Steven Woolbright.

CHS band director Gavin Knowles praised all four of his “highly deserving” winning soloists. “Van Otten in particular was an outstanding performance, as he has only been studying in a private setting for a couple of weeks,” Knowles said. “He had only chosen his piece recently, but was able to bring a musicality to the performance of someone who had been studying privately for a much longer time.”

Knowles added that the percussion solos all demonstrated skills and techniques these drummers have learned during class and in outside private studies during the past three semesters with CHS percussion consultant Forrest Brennan.

“The Solo and Ensemble contest is a great way to improve as a musician,” said Montgomery. “You have to pick up a piece of music that might feel too hard in the beginning, practice it until you’re almost tired of it, and by the end of it all the new concepts in the piece become much easier, and you come out of the whole thing a better performer overall.” 

Although they did not advance to state, other CHS musicians competed with distinction. Freshman snare drummer Seth Nielsen earned a one, but finished second to Woolbright. The CHS percussion ensemble also earned a one, but finished second to Port Angeles.

“I’m very proud of all of the performances,” Knowles said. “Each student displayed growth not only in their technical playing, but in overall musicality they have gained throughout this year. It was an amazing day watching these young musicians display their talents to the region, and it makes me proud to be able to work with such hard-working, dedicated young musicians every day.”

Addressing the drummers he helped elevate from novices to virtuosos during the last three semesters, Brennan added, “I just want to say how incredibly proud I am of each and every one of you. It’s been an honor to help you all grow and improve as musicians, and it’s been a lot of fun hanging out and being goofy with you all both in and out of rehearsal.”