Hazelwood School District Band Students Advance to State Competition

Thirteen (HSD) high school band students recently qualified and participated in the 60th Annual Missouri State High School Activities Association State Music Festival, which was held at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Steve Stenzhorn, director of bands for Hazelwood East High School, said that festival events are important to the growth of music students.

“Evaluative district and state music festival events have several purposes, but there are two primary purposes that justify and cause them to be desirable,” he said in an HSD statement. “These events provide opportunities to demonstrate before the public the best knowledge, skills and musical repertoire taught through a particular activity. They also evaluate the best that is taught in a school system in comparison with an accepted standard of excellence.”

The event included more than 4,400 individual and group performances representing 401 schools. The state-level festival has an evaluative purpose during which students perform before some of the nation’s top music adjudicators, who provide ratings and critiques of the students’ musical abilities. Festival participants qualified by earning a division “1” rating at their respective district-level festival.

Hazelwood West High School State participants include:

• Dan Halley, trumpet solo, II rating
• Austin Kirbride, tenor sax solo, II rating
• Brittany Irby
• Jennifer Lowe
• Taylor Proske, flute trio, I rating

Hazelwood East High School State participants include:

• Kebrina Clark, clarinet solo, II rating (excellent)
• Antonio Griffin
• Tamyra Flowers
• Cyrus Daniel, saxophone trio, II rating

Hazelwood Central High School State participants include:

• Brian Jacob, tuba solo, I rating (superior)
• Barry Goins
• Jasmine Alade-Fe
• Donovan Gilliam, saxophone trio, II rating

Mark Thomas directs the Hazelwood Central High School band.

Aaron Jackson directs the Hazelwood West High School band.