By AL STOVER
Staff Reporter 

Cheney band students to perform in WMEA festival

 

Last updated 2/4/2016 at 12:04pm

Al Stover

Claire Arensmeyer (left) will be performing in her third WMEA festival while Tim Bennett is playing in it for the first time.

Three Cheney High School band students will be performing in the Washington Music Educators Association (WMEA) Music festival in Yakima, Feb. 12-14, along with some of the best high school musicians in the state.

James Marshall will play the viola in the chamber orchestra, tuba player Tim Bennett will perform in the wind ensemble and oboe player Claire Arensmeyer will play in the symphony orchestra.

To perform in the festival, musicians must submit an application in the fall, download the audition materials from the WMEA website, which include specific songs they'll perform in the festival and submit a video of themselves performing the music.

This is Marshall's first time performing in a festival structured by the WMEA. He has performed at summer camps and other concerts, and currently performs with the Spokane Youth Symphony. He was homeschooled before he enrolled in Cheney High School.

"Being here at the high school has allowed me to perform with an orchestra every day," Marshall said. "I do perform with the Spokane Youth Symphony but that's just once a week."

Marshall added that he is looking forward to the overall experience "of playing with the best strings and wind performers on stage" at the festival.

Like Marshall, this will be Bennett's first time performing at the festival. He initially hesitated to audition, mainly due to cost concerns. After Bennett learned from his teacher Rich Sonnemaker that the school would cover the cost of the trip, he practiced the audition music and submitted the video to WEMA. Bennett is not only excited about performing with other students, but he's also looking forward to getting the opportunity to play in front of different educators.

"I feel that having and learning from different (conductors) perspectives is fundamental in understanding music better," Bennett said.

Bennet is not nervous about playing with new musicians, saying WMEA always chooses the best student performers in the state to play in their concerts.

"In normal orchestras, students may get a beat or a rhythm wrong, but it shouldn't happen if we understand the conductor and we get the beats right," Bennett said. "It should feel like we've been practicing together for weeks."

Arensmeyer agreed with Bennett's words about WMEA selecting the best student musicians and added that rehearsals will go up to five hours.

"There are also fun concerts for us to go to, and other stuff for us to do," Arensmeyer said. "It's an exhausting weekend but (when) the concert happens it's all worth it. It's cool to know you were all able to put it together."

For Arensmeyer, who has been playing oboe for seven years, this is her third time performing at the WMEA festival. She's previously performed in concert band and set a goal to play with the symphony orchestra her senior year. She said her private teacher acquired the audition materials for her early and she started practicing in the summer.

"As the deadline got closer, I practiced more," Arensmeyer said. "I had to put in more time and perform different excerpts from the music."

Like Bennett and Marshall, Arensmeyer is looking forward to learning under different conductors at the festival, as well as performing and meeting with other high school students.

"You get to meet these artists from all over the state, big cities and small towns," Arensmeyer said. "It's kind of like a little music community."

Al Stover can be reached at al@cheneyfreepress.com.

 

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