With eight WLHS students and one WLHS ensemble taking spots as district champions, and 31 students advancing to state, Solo and Ensemble was a success once more. On March 7, WLHS was home to the Solo and Ensemble competition for the third consecutive year.

Caroline Glausi, senior, placed first in districts her sophomore, junior and senior year. She has also placed second at state her sophomore and junior year.

“It takes a lot of practice, but I felt well prepared and will see how I do this year,” Glausi said.

Solo and Ensemble is a competition open to high schools and their respective middle schools in the southwest suburbs of Portland, Ore. Anybody can enter as a soloist, a soloist with an accompanist or as an ensemble. Each group is given a time slot to play in front of a judge and listen to their feedback to improve their future playing.

“It’s like a track meet,” Egan said. “This is a time for individuals to give their best.”

In Egan’s opinion, the hardest part about organizing this event is managing the schedule and bending it to certain needs. With more than 620 entries and only 15 rooms, Egan goes through scheduling conflict after conflict, but it’s worth it to the students.

The success of the students grows each year. Out of the 31 state qualifiers, here are the students who were also district champions:

Caroline Glausi-Flute

Tyler Jordan-Bass Clarinet

Henry Li-Low Sax

Conor Egan-Trumpet

Sam Brown-Euphonium

Ben Carr-Tuba

Daniel Tang-Violin

Eaton Lin-Viola

Conor Egan, Evan Clow, Logan Bryck, Neil Yotsuya, Sam Brown-Brass Ensemble

Lauren Griffith, freshman, started practicing her French horn solo at the beginning of February. She recorded herself and listened to it as well as listening to other recordings of the same song to find areas of improvement. Griffith isn’t in band just for the competition.

“I participate in Solo and Ensemble because I love the French horn and this makes me a better player,” Griffith said.

Griffith enjoys band because she loves music and playing it with her friends adds. Griffith played “Romanze” from Mozart’s Third Horn Concerto on March 7 at the Solo and Ensemble competition.

These 31 students are advancing to state:

FLUTE:

Caroline Glausi, District Champion

Joaquin Socolofsky, 4th place

OBOE:

Conor McWilliams, 3rd Place

BASSOON:

Marcus Sterwart, 3rd Place

CLARINET:

Dhruva Chatterjee, 2nd place

Charlena Kea, 3rd Place

BASS CLARINET:

Tyler Jordan, District Champion

ALTO SAX:

Will Glausi, 2nd  place

Ethan Sorenson, 4th Place

LOW SAX:

Henry Li, District Champion

Bo An, West Linn, 3rd Place

TRUMPET:

Conor Egan, District Champion

Evan Clow, 2nd Place

Jake Nielsen, 3rd Place

HORN:

Logan Bryck, 2nd Place

Ben Sebastian, 3rd Place

Noah Gardner, 5th Place

Talia Lichtenberg, 6th Place

TROMBONE:

Sam Brown, 4th Place

EUPHONIUM:

Sam Brown, District Champion

Jonathan Zilk, 3rd Place

TUBA:

Ben Carr, District Champion

TIMPANI:

Rochelle Biancardi, 2nd Place

RUDIMENTAL SNARE:

Parker Wright, 2nd place

MALLET PERCUSSION:

Rochelle Biancardi, 3rd Place

ORCHESTRAL SNARE:

Toshiki Chiba, 3rd Place

Parker Wright, 5th Place

VIOLIN:

Daniel Tang, District Champion

VIOLA:

Eaton Lin, District Champion

CELLO:

Leann Kim, 4th Place

BRASS ENSEMBLE:

Brass Quintet (Conor Egan, Evan Clow, Logan Bryck, Neil Yotsuya, Sam Brown), District Champion

STRING ENSEMBLE:

Genevieve Wilson and Mackenzie Weber, 2nd Place