Playing, singing a new tune

Hard work and diligence has paid off for more than 60 high school musicians this year, as they were adjudicated and dubbed Southeast Honor and All State champions.

• Photos

Michael Penn / Juneau Empire

In all, 37 Juneau-Douglas High School students and 10 Thunder Mountain High School students will represent Juneau in the Southeast Honor Music Festival held this weekend in Petersburg, and 19 will represent Juneau in the All State Honor Music Festival to be held Nov. 19 to 21 in Anchorage.

For longtime JDHS music teacher Ken Guiher, recognizing the Honor and All State students is "absolutely essential."

"These kids work really, really hard," he said. "They work long hours with this stuff, especially the band kids. They learn music for Southeast Honor Fest and a whole new set of music for All State."

In the "old days," JDHS seldom had more than 15 or 20 honor music students selected, Guiher said. But for the past 10 years, since Guiher and choir director Richard Moore have worked on the project, JDHS has had as many as 50 and never less than 40 students selected.

"There are consistently some very talented kids in this music department," Guiher said. "This is an outstanding accomplishment for a new program."

But to clarify, these students are not going to All State to compete; it's more like a ceremonial parade for them, Guiher said.

"They have spent hours perfecting difficult musical exercises and then putting this on a recording with flawless precision," Guiher said. "Adjudicators listen to these for hours and through critical evaluation what they consider 'the cream of the crop.' The competition for these students is already completed, and they were the winners. ... They have now earned a position to play on the All State Music team and perform with the best musicians in Southeast Alaska and in the state. It is an amazing experience."

For JDHS junior and trombone player Alex Kelley, 16, being an honor music student is ... "an honor."

"It's a lot of work. You have to get all the stuff down before you leave. (But) I'm looking forward to Papa Bear's Pizza," he said of the Petersburg trip, which starts today and culminates Tuesday with a 7 p.m. concert.

Aside from the good eats, traveling for music festivals means being able to socialize with other musicians.

JDHS sophomore Fiona Brown, 15, who plays tenor saxophone in the wind ensemble and jazz band, said she enjoys that aspect.

"That's the biggest part of Honor Fest, meeting good musicians and learning from them," she said. "When we travel for Region V and other music stuff, we already know people and we can go, 'Hey! Good to see you," and that sort of thing. It's really cool to make those connections, kind of more of a social thing I guess."

Senior Elliot Nankervis, 17, a second-year honor music student and basoon player in the wind ensemble, agreed.

"Honor Music Fest is a blast," he said. "You get to play with the best musicians in Southeast Alaska and just get together, sit down with a band and be very serious about playing some really cool music with a director you've never seen before up there. Just being able to play music all day with other amazing musicians is really cool! You can't really express that with words."

Nankervis said he was drawn to the basoon when his fourth-grade Mendenhall River Community School teacher played a track of "Peter and the Wolf."

"I thought, the coolest instrument that I've ever heard before in my life was definitely whatever played the grandpa in 'Peter and the Wolf,'" he said.

Like Nankervis, sophomore tuba player Alan Young shows a love for the variety of sounds his instrument can make.

"It's a different instrument, and not a lot of people play it," Young said. "I like showing people that the tuba can be more than just oom pa."

Young, along with senior Rebekah Peterson, also will receive a first-chair award this year at the All State Honor Music Fest.

For senior Monica Yost, 17, a singer in the chamber and concert choirs, this trip will be her third and last as a high school honor music student.

"It's nice to be able to go one last time before we have to leave the choir program," she said. "Alaska has a really great program."

But not to worry, although she wants to study biology at Humboldt State University, Yost hopes to continue in music.

"I'm definitely going to keep singing, I don't think I can stop!" she said.

• Contact Neighbors editor Kim Andree at kim.andree@juneauempire.com.