Van Horn Sending 13 Students to State Music Competition

Musical excellence during the Solo and Small Ensemble Contest earned 13 Van Horn High School band, choir and orchestra students a trip to state competition later this school year. “It was a fantastic day and the school’s strongest showing in years,” said Ryan Main, Van Horn music teacher. “Last year, five students advanced to state, so we nearly tripled our number of entrants.”

Main said 32 Van Horn students competed in 27 different events. It took an exemplary ‘I’ rating to go to state and of the 13 qualifiers, three- Gibralter Hemingway, Mindy Holthe and Katie Jones- qualified in more than one discipline. Those with ‘I’ ratings include:

Vocal Solo: Gibralter Hemingway

Vocal Solo: Katie Jones

Vocal Solo: Samuel West

Vocal Solo: Jessica Bennett

Vocal Quartet: Katie Jones, Naomi Kroeger, Brando Garcia, Gibralter Hemingway – accompanist Mindy Holthe

Vocal Sextet (freshmen men): Gibralter Hemingway, Nick Tarwaters, John Fenton, Oscar Adan, Sinai Naiuli, Jezreel Seppings – accompanist Mindy Holthe

Piano Solo: Mindy Holthe

Violin Solo: Angel Grammer

Main had high praise not just for the state qualifiers, but for every participant. “These students represented Van Horn with determination and pride,” he said. “I commend each of them for doing great work.”