MKA's Music Program Wins Again and Again!
With a proven track record of successes at the Music in the Parks competitions, MKA’s young musicians did not disappoint at this year’s contests. Every single MKA group that competed, from both the Middle and Upper School, won first place in their division!
The Middle School Instrumental Bands (4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade and combined 7th and 8th grade) and Jazz Band, directed by Linda Larkin, performed at the Music in the Parks competition at Dorney Park on May 2. Every one of them received an ”Excellent” rating, while the 6th grade band, the 7th and 8th grader band and the Jazz Band came in first place and the combined 7th and 8th grade band won the highest “Superior” rating. In addition, 7th grade Jazz Band guitarist Jake Kleinbaum won the coveted overall Jazz Band Instrumental Soloist Award among all competitors that day.
Dr. Steven Katzenmoyer, one of the day’s judges, paid particular tribute to Larkin’s work, saying: “Your dedication and commitment is to be commended. I hope that you are a resource to other music teachers in your community because it is obvious that you run a very successful program.”
On May 8, the Middle School Chamber Singers and Cougar Choir under the direction of Maria Gilmartin, the Upper School Instrumental Band and Jazz Band under the direction of Chuck Olsen and three strings groups under the direction of Dimitri Hadjpetkov traveled to Six Flags Great Adventure to compete in another Music in the Parks Competition.
Among the Middle School performers, both the Chamber Singers and Cougar Choir came in first place, each receiving an “Excellent” rating, the Elementary Strings Orchestra (4th-5th grades) came in first place with a “Superior” rating (the highest rating available) and the Middle School 6th-8th Grade Orchestra also came in first place with a “Good” rating.
Upper School musicians were equally successful. The Upper School String Orchestra came in first place with a rating of “Good,” and both the Upper School Concert Band and Jazz Band came in first place with an “Excellent” rating. The Concert Band went on to win the Overall Band Award covering all divisions.
In addition, out of the 900 students participating from middle and high schools, three individual awards were given for the day.Remarkably, to end what had been a perfect day of competition, MKA garnered two of the three awards, with junior Adam Zerihoun receiving the Overall Jazz Soloist Award for trumpet, and seventh grader Bobby Borbone receiving the Overall Student Accompanist Award for guitar.