After several weeks of individual study, after school practices and in class preparation, the Wind Ensemble earned straight Superiors at the district Music Performance Assessment at Lake Mary High School on Saturday, March 6, qualifying them for the state festival.

MPA is an annual event in which bands from throughout the district are evaluated on three prepared pieces, which have been the focus of class and rehearsal for over a month, and two sight-read pieces, which they have never practiced or performed before. Four musically qualified judges each give bands a rating of either Superior, Excellent, Good, Fair or Poor.

“We performed each individual piece better in class before,” junior Hunter Winters said, “but overall I thought we did pretty well under pressure and with lack of time for preparation.”

The Symphonic Band also saw success at their MPA performance on March 8, where their performance earned straight Excellents, the second highest score possible.

“Even though I’m disappointed that Symphonic Band didn’t get a Superior, I’m glad that Wind Ensemble did. In band, we achieve as a whole,” said sophomore Amanda Vasquez.

While Symphonic Band did not qualify, on Monday, April 21, Wind Ensemble members will travel to the Daytona Beach News Journal Center for the state level of MPA. The evaluation process remains the same, but judges are more strict with ratings. Adding to the pressure, directors Brad and Brian Kuperman recently chose to replace one of the original prepared pieces, leaving only a month to master the new selection.

“I feel if we all work really hard towards a common goal of state and have a positive attitude we will be super successful,” Winters said.