Band-tastic Students Compete at State

By Mackenzie McCollum, Contributing Writer

​On April 27, 2023 four students from the Centralia High School(CHS) band competed at the state competition at the University of Missouri campus.

The students included Lane Chancellor (Freshman) who competed as an individual with the trumpet. Abby McSparren (Sophomore), Bre Crockett (Sophomore) and Natalie Mistkowski (Sophomore) who competed as a clarinet trio. 

The students did not compete against other students, but the competition was more like a test. Mistkowski comments, “When it comes to competing, you don’t compete against other people. The score is based on how well you did.” 

Chancellor’s favorite part was, “I liked how I would get feedback from my judge so I would know how to get better.”
 
To prepare for the competition, the clarinet trio would meet on Wednesdays after school to work out kinks in their performance. The group would then try to perfect the piece for the competition. For Chancellor, he started preparing in mid-February and would play over different spots in the music to practice. Each of the students agreed that their least favorite part of competing was performing in front of the judge.

The students watched each other compete and then the group walked around campus with director, Mrs. Kim Neighbors, while debriefing their performances. The students also visited local places like Shakespeare’s and Sparky’s for lunch and ice cream. After returning to campus to get their scores, the group also watched a clarinet quartet of the University of Missouri students. 
 
The trio received gold medals, and Chancellor received a bronze medal. Each member of the clarinet trio has been playing for six years, while Chancellor has been playing the trumpet for four years. 

​