The Cook County High School Band performed at the University of Minnesota-Duluth on Tuesday, March 19, playing the beautiful but challenging piece Gustav Holst’s First Suite in Eb. The band earned high ratings from the judges at the State-Section Band Festival.
On Tuesday, March 19, the Cook County High School Band traveled to the University of Minnesota-Duluth to participate in the Section 7A State-Section Band Festival, performing a beautiful piece of music that is considered one of the cornerstones of concert music, Gustav Holst’s First Suite in Eb.
First Suite, as this piece is known by many in the music world, is the premier staple of concert band music, explained CCHS Band Director Kerri Bilben. Written in 1911 by British composer Gustav Holst, First Suite has since been performed countless times in numerous countries.
In addition to tackling a challenging musical piece, the CCHS band went directly to the State- Section contest instead of first performing at a sub-section competition, as Section 7A eliminated the sub-section contest this year.
Under Minnesota State High School League guidelines a Superior rating is earned when a band, playing music selected from one of three specific lists, earns a minimum of 35 out of 40 points. The most difficult music list is Level I, followed by Level II, and then Level III. Bilben said Cook County High School has been extremely successful performing Level II music. When the sub-section round was removed the band and Director Bilben decided to musically challenge themselves with First Suite from the Level I list.
The Cook County High School Band also had a jazz ensemble entry at the State-Section Band Festival. The group performed the Adele song featured in the latest James Bond thriller, Skyfall, with vocalist Sarah Larsen. They earned a superior rating. (L-R) Bjorn Johnson, Sean MacDonell, Libby Zafft, Jake Carlson, Ben Seaton, Will Seaton, Luke Fenwick. (Not pictured – Adrianna Berglund, Collin Berglund, Sarah Larsen.)
Bilben said, “Many small high school bands never have the opportunity to perform this piece due to the nature of the composition.”
Bilben has performed this piece twice before, once in high school and once in college but has never had the opportunity to conduct the entire three-movement piece with a high school band. “I took the change in Section 7A band contest format as a positive change and introduced the piece to the band one movement at a time. It did not take the ambitious and talented group of students long to embrace the musical mountain they were going to climb.”
The band, along with a small student-led jazz combo, performed for the CCHS student body on Friday, March 15. The jazz combo performed Adele’s Skyfall with senior Sarah Larsen leading the group with her soulful voice.
Larsen was accompanied by Sean MacDonell, Will Seaton, Ben Seaton, Luke Fenwick, Bjorn Johnson, Libby Zafft, Adrianna Berglund, Jake Carlson, and Collin Berglund.
The concert was more than just a performance, as the student body learned about the rating process and composer Gustav Holst, as well as how to applaud during a multi-movement piece. “They were an amazing audience!” said Bilben.
After two months of preparation and rehearsals, the groups were finally given the chance to perform for judges, who included Dr. Mark Whitlock (UMD band director) and Pamela Bustos (UWS band director).
Bustos told the band, “I truly appreciate your wonderful choice of music.”
Bilben said Dr. Whitlock spent over 10 minutes on stage with the band afterwards, teaching them even more about the history of First Suite. He told the students that, to him, this piece is important classical music, just like Mozart.
The CCHS jazz combo earned a Superior (35). The CCHS concert band earned a Superior (36) and two Excellent ratings (34, 33).
Even though two Superiors are needed to bring home a trophy, Director Bilben is thankful she was able to introduce this amazing piece to the band. “I’m pleased that they experienced music not every high school band has the opportunity to perform,” she said.
Bilben said as long as Section 7A has just one level of performance she plans to spend every year introducing the band to as many “cornerstones” of the concert band library as possible.
The next CCHS band performance is Monday, May 13 at 7 p.m. and will feature the music of the Beatles. The community is invited.
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