Pacific Cascade’s band blows away competition
June 25, 2008
By Chantelle Lusebrink
The Pacific Cascade Freshman Campus band and its directors, Jeff Miller and Philip Dungey, returned from Idaho as big winners June 1.
The band won two prestigious awards from the Music in the Parks festival and competition held at Coeur d’Alene High School May 31.
The students received a Superior Rating from contest judges for being the best in their division with a score of 199 out of a possible 200 points. Their score was also the highest given by judges for all 34 groups during the competition, including the high school level, and several orchestras and choirs.
The students pour their heart into their music every Wednesday morning and Thursday evening to produce their sound and meet only as a club, not as a structured class at the school, Miller said.
“For a ninth-grade group, they just played beyond their years,” he said. “They are phenomenal.”
At the competition, the band also won the festival’s overall Esprit De Corps award for its excellent musicianship and by demonstrating it could work and perform easily as a team.
Comments for the band’s performance of “Encanto,” from judges like David Turnbull, trumpet professor and director of the Washington State University symphonic band, included: “Bravo! PCFC that’s one of the best bands I have heard in a long time,” “The rhythms are just so accurately played. Very, very nice,” and “Really splendid playing in every respect.”
The band also recently won the Bellevue High School Jazz Festival May 2 for the Junior High ninth-grade division with a score of 182 points out of a possible 200. During that competition there were more than 49 jazz bands. Of those, Pacific Cascade ranked in the top five, behind Newport, Bothell, Meadowdale and Mercer Island high schools in the 4A division.
Reach Reporter Chantelle Lusebrink at 392-6434, ext. 241, or clusebrink@isspress.com.
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