Sheldon, Iowa — Several Orab musicians are headed for Spirit Lake this Saturday to take part in the Iowa High School Music Association Solo and Ensemble Festival for Class 3A for this area.
Sheldon High School Band Director Mr. Cliff St. Clair tells us about the event.
He tells us about the group that’s going.
St. Clair says this is a vocal event as well, but there’s only one Sheldon vocalist competing.
He tells us that almost every instrument in their band will be represented at the contest.
He says unlike speech and athletic events in Iowa, this is the only event for solos and ensembles. There are no preliminary contests and no opportunity to move on to a higher-level contest either. Each performance is evaluated on a list of criteria. The scores of the criteria are added up and that score determines the rating.
He tells us there is one judge per center, and he says they will experience something new this year — electronic ballots. St. Clair says the state music association has made the change and this will be the first time they will see how that works. Judges are also encouraged to give oral feedback after each performance.
Only the class 3A schools will have their festivals this Saturday. The class 2A schools will have theirs next week Saturday, April 2, 2022, and the Class 1A and 4A schools will have theirs the next week, Saturday, April 9, 2022.
