On Saturday, Feb 21, three members of the Italy High School Band competed in the Region 8 UIL Solo 7 Ensemble Contest at Waco High School. Ronald Helms (Jr), Tess Clark (Sr) and Mike Vlk (Sr) performed for a judge who gave them a rating and a few pointers. This contest draws hundreds of participants from dozens of schools from all classifications each year.

Tess Clark performed Syrinx by Claude Debussy, a 20th century composition and earned a Superior rating of 1.

Ronald Helms performed Handel’s Sonata on tenor saxophone and earned a rating of Excellent 2.

Mike Vlk performed Mozart’s Concert Rondo on tenor trombone and qualified for the Texas State Solo and Ensemble Contest by earning a Superior rating 2 on a memorized Class 1 solo. Mike will compete at the Texas State Solo and Ensemble contest on Memorial Day weekend.

On Wednesday, March 5, the band went to a sight reading contest and performed a UIL concert. Mr. Perez said, “We earned a full sweepstakes this year which contrary to last year’s where we got ones on stage and sight reading, this year we also got ones in marching last fall. All those count together for a sweepstakes…bigger trophy and it puts us in a very distinguished category for bands across the state.”

Congratulations to these high performing students at IHS.