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Announcements
All-State Band and Orchestra Auditions Signup
The All-State Band and Orchestra auditions are Friday, November 17th at Biddeford High School. The deadline to signup is Friday, October 20th.
See Mr. Skeffington for audition music and requirements. |
All-State Jazz Auditions Signup
All-State Jazz auditions are during school on October 13th (time TBD). Students will travel by bus to the University of Maine at Augusta. Students need to prepare the melody and the etude to "Autumn Leaves" (located in the band room). These are to be played with an accompaniment MP3. The MP3 files can be found here: All-State Audition Material. Signups are due by Friday, September 29th. The cost of the audition is $22 and your money needs to be received by then. If you are selected to the All-State Jazz Festival, the acceptance fee is $200. The festival itself is here at South Portland High School, January 11 - 13, 2018. The Music Boosters will help with $50 of this fee. |
Honors Band Auditions Signup
Students The Southern Maine District 1 Honors Auditions are on October 17th at Sanford High School. Cost is $6 per audition. Students will take a bus after school and return around 8pm. Be sure to sign up on the sheet outside Mr. Skeffington's office. |
2017 Marching Band Schedule now available
The 2017 Marching Band Schedule is now available on the High School Marching Band page. The first show is September 16 at Westbrook High School. |
Music Booster Meeting - Wed May 10, 6:30p
South portland music boosters will be holding the final meeting for this school year on Wednesday May 10 at 6:30pm in the Learning Commons at South Portland High School. Please come join us. We love to see new faces. Voting for next years board members will take place. Hope to see you there! |
Mahoney Middle School Jazz Band Earns Gold at State Jazz Festival
The Mahoney Middle School Performance Jazz Band earned a Gold Award at the 2017 Maine State Middle School Instrumental Jazz Festival in Division II on Saturday, March 25th at Stearns Junior/Senior High School in Millinocket, Maine. The band, under the direction of music teacher Sandy Barry, scored 96 out of 100 possible points, and was one of only two bands in their division to earn the Gold Award. 8th Grade Alto Saxophonist Rosie Saffer-Meng was awarded a State Jazz Festival "Outstanding Musicianship" award, presented to the top 5 student performers in all of Division II. Rounding out the jazz band’s 2017 roster are musicians Cullen Adams, Alice Cardale, Meghan Perry, Olivia Petersen, Alice Bonnevie-Rothrock, Aidan Gorneau, Theo LeBlanc, Sky Jordan, Jane Bonnevie-Rothrock, Blake Kierstead, Ahliysen Kearns, Marcella Hesser, Jonah Diaz and Jacob Costin. The band performed three selections of varying styles for a panel of three judges. The student musicians are adjudicated for their ability to perform stylistically in the jazz idiom. Judging categories include technical merit, artistic merit, solo/improvisation, and programming/ presentation, which also includes degree of difficulty of musical the selections performed. The music performed by Mahoney Middle School included an original blues rock tune entitled “Mystic Traveler" written by Michael Sweeney, the classic ballad, “Harlem Nocturne” by Rogers and Hagen, arranged by Larry Norred, and the exciting jazz shuffle “Groovin’ Hard” by Don Menza, arranged by Dave Barduhn. Judges comments shared with the band include, “Great set, nice diversity”, “excellent concept of swing styles, very mature section sounds”, and “great program, great band!” The Performance Jazz Band members are selected each fall by audition. The band rehearses two mornings per week September through March to prepare for district and state level jazz festivals as well as numerous school and community performances. Sandra Barry  |
South Portland High School Jazz Bands take Honors at Recent Festival
The Maine High School Instrumental Jazz Festival, hosted by Nokomis High School on March 17 & 18, 2017, brought schools from across the State to a two day festival of music and competition. Competing in small combos and large ensembles, students were adjudicated by professional jazz musicians and jazz educators. South Portland High School brought two Jazz Combos and two Jazz Ensembles to the festival under the direction of Craig Skeffington, In addition, SPHS brought home top awards in many categories. Under a newly adjudicated system, which awards gold (95 or above), silver (90-94) and bronze (85-89) medals to bands for achieving appropriate scores, the first day of performances saw both the South Portland H.S. Jazz Band II and Combo B awarded silver medals. Receiving an Outstanding Musicianship Award for Jazz Band II was sophomore Alex Rowell on tenor saxophone, and receiving the inaugural Dale Huff Superior Musicianship Award for Combo B on trombone, sophomore Max Saffer-Meng. Later in the day, Combo A was awarded a gold medal and honored two Outstanding Musicianship awards…one to junior Thomas Costin on piano and another to senior Owen Doane on trombone. The second day of the festival featured the South Portland High School Jazz Ensemble playing in the afternoon with hopes of qualifying for a trip to play in the evening’s showcase of gold medal bands. Living up to stellar jazz performances in the past, the SPHS Jazz Ensemble was awarded a gold medal for their performance and three musicianship awards. Recognized for Outstanding Musicianship Awards on lead trumpet, junior Jesse Pearlman, on alto and soprano saxophones, senior Ellen Stanton and awarded the Dale Huff Superior Musicianship Award on trombone was senior Owen Doane. The evening’s performance showcased 6 gold medal bands, qualifying from a field of 33 jazz ensemble groups. The newly designed night kicked off with a performance by the Portland Jazz Orchestra. Taking the stage after PJO were gold medal performers, beginning with the SPHS jazz ensemble who entertained the crowd, playing three songs. Kicking off the program with Surfin’ the Big Wave, written by Craig Skeffington, a ballad, Lifelong Friends, by Kris Berg and a crowd favorite, Gaea by Nate Kimball. Other gold medal performers were, George Stevens Academy, Greely H.S., Hampden Academy, Old Town H.S. and Westbrook H.S.   |
All State Music Festival
Scholarship Applications for 2017 now available
Visit the Scholarships page to get the Senior Scholarship application and the Summer Music Camp Scholarship application. Be sure to volunteer at Bingo to get additional $$. |
Music Booster Meeting Nov 16, 6:30pm SPHS Learning Commons
The Music Boosters are holding a meeting on Wednesday, November 16th at 6:30pm in the South Portland High School Learning Commons. All are welcome! |
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