By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

Clanton Middle School musicians brought home 22 medals from a recent District 5 Solo and Ensemble competition at Tuscaloosa County High School.

Every eighth-grade student was given the option to participate. Tyler Clark, Kayla Marsh,
Hannah Lynch, Ashley McKinnon, Selene Sublett, Lindsey Popwell, Alyssa Lynch, Chyenne Robinson and Dezeraye Loper chose to compete.

Students performed in groups of different sizes for 11 performances. Each piece of music was approved by band teacher Casey Clark before they began practicing. He said the music included “classical, pop, pop influenced, but definitely appropriate for the medium and for their instrument.”

Each performance was rated by a judge with superior being the highest rating. Clark said nine of the performances earned the superior rating and the accompanying medal.

“To my knowledge, this is the first time that solo and ensemble has been offered to the middle school students here,” Clark said.

The ensemble performances by CMS students ranged from two to nine people with some students performing in more than one group.

“It was just a good experience for the kids,” Clark said.

He said complete as a small group as opposed to a full band was different for the students.

“It is easier to hide in a group, if you are a timid player, but when you get out there and you put yourself in a situation where it is only two people than you can really know who is doing the job and who’s not,” Clarke said. “It definitely lets you know what you need to do as a player and how to better develop individually.”

Student practiced mostly on their own for the competition with Clark offering pointers at different times.