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Marietta High School's concert band and three choirs qualified for the Ohio Music Educators Association state competition after a first in school history.
"All four groups got a superior score this year, which is the highest score you can achieve," choir director Scott Rieder said. "We went to our qualifying event on March 16 and will perform (Saturday)." Rieder said this is also the first time three different choruses have qualified for state: Bass Chorus for tenors and basses, Treble Chorus for soprano and alto, and Cantabile for mixed voices.
"I'm an alumni of the program and have talked to other alumni and we don't remember all three choir groups making it at the same time," he said. Rieder also took the Cantabile Choir to the Heritage Festival in New York City in March. He said this was the first time he took them to the festival. "We competed against choirs from all over the country. One choir was from California, another from Washington State, even one from Quebec," he said. Cantabile received a Gold Rating, the highest score. They also received the Adjudicator's Award, where the judging panel chooses choirs who scored a 95 out of 100 or above.
"They are great musicians and know their music," Rieder said.For the state competition, the symphonic band will perform at Glen Oak High School in Canton at 9 a.m. Saturday. The choruses will perform at Jackson High School in Massillon at three different times: Bass Chorus at 11:30 a.m., Cantabile at 1 p.m. and Treble at 2:10 p.m.
Band Director Korey Parlin said that 10 students will participate in both the band and choir competitions. It speaks to the level of talent the school has.
"They are very versatile and have a greater musical aptitude," he said. "They will have a busy day."
Marietta City Schools Board of Education accepted Parlin's resignation at the March 25 meeting. He said he is looking forward to the competition, even though it'll be his last with Marietta.
"It'll be a good way to cap off my time here," he said.
Parlin said the band has qualified for state competition three times in the last twelve months. Last spring, the concert band went to the OMEA Large Group competition, this past fall they went to State Marching Band Finals, then qualified for Large Group again this year.
Parlin said he is confident in his students' work ethic. The concert band currently has 32 students in grades 8 through 12.
"The kids are working hard. We've hit the tip of the iceberg with their potential. We're starting to discuss musical things that I've never talked about in my 13 years of teaching," he said.
Kristen Hainkel can be contacted at khainkel@newsandsentinel.com