• <p> She’s got this! Seventh-grader Taylor Steinys was ready to go prior to her performance of “Petite Gavotte” by G.F. Handel at the 2018 RMS Solo and Ensemble Festival. </p>
  • <p>A trio of trumpeters (from left): Mason Smith, Thomas Stroz, and Riley Meadows. The three seventh-graders performed “Triplet Trove” by Kevin Kaisershot.</p>
  • <p>Batavia High School junior Nathan Knautz was volunteering at the RMS Solo and Ensemble Festival to help sell tickets for Music Buffs’ Fundraising Gala on Fri., March 9 from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. at the Q Center in St. Charles. (Event details: bataviamusicbuffs.yapsody.com.) </p>
  • <p>RMS Band Teacher Sherry Reiss with RMS sixth-grade student Sophia Finch who earned the top “1st Rating” for her performance of Beethoven’s “Minuetto” on her clarinet. Congrats to Sophia!</p>
  • <p>Sixth-grader Brooke Besic performed Bach’s Minuet No. 1 as a duet with her dad, Pete Besic. Brooke played the violin while her dad was on the piano. How cool is that?! </p>
  • <p>Students performing at the 2018 RMS Solo and Ensemble Festival earned medals based on their performance evaluations.</p>
  • <p>The highest level medal is a “1st Rating.”</p>
  • <p>After performing and getting scored by a judge, student musicians gave their score sheet to voluteers at the awards table to pick up their medals. </p>
  • <p>After performing and getting scored by a judge, student musicians gave their score sheet to voluteers at the awards table to pick up their medals. </p>
  • <p> RMS sixth-grader Natalie Thilges warming up for her performance of “Dutch Dance” by Forrest L. Buchtel.</p>
  • <p>RMS Choir Director Kate Hillman with RMS eighth grader Rosette Pavkov who earned a “1st Rating” for her vocal performance, “Once Upon a December.”</p>
  • <p>RMS eighth-grader Connor Macauley warming up with RMS Band Director Keith Ozsvath prior to Connor’s two trombone performances of the morning.</p>
  • <p>En route to a strings performance! </p>

February 3, 2018

RMS Solo and Ensemble Festival 2018

Having a case of “the butterflies” is not uncommon at the annual RMS Solo and Ensemble Festival, where Rotolo Middle School orchestra, band, and choral students (plus a few fourth- and fifth-grade student musicians) perform solos and ensembles in front of a judge for written evaluation. The Festival, hosted at RMS, is a terrific opportunity for student musicians to test their performance skills and get immediate feedback from a judge on how they can improve upon their performance. Judges are typically music teachers from other schools, retired music teachers, and local accomplished musicians.
According to Rotolo Middle School Band Teacher, Robert Buckley, the RMS Solo and Ensemble Festival started in 2001 after years of participating in a state-level festival. Mr. Buckley said that the RMS Festival was formed out of a need for more student feedback. “We built in time for students to get constructive feedback and even work with a judge after a performance,” said Mr. Buckley. “This format works really well for us. We’ve even had some of our judges replicate this extended-time format at their own schools.”
Festival participants receive their music from their instructors around winter break and have about six weeks to practice outside of school.
A few minutes prior to their actual performance, students can rehearse in the RMS gymnasium. Check out seventh-grader Taylor Steinys rehearsing her piece, “Petite Gavotte” by G.F. Handel. Beautiful!
After their performances at the Festival, students earn medals based on their evaluations. Similar to golf, the lower the score, the better the rating. One of three medals are bestowed: the top “1st Rating,” “2nd Rating,” and “3rd Rating.”
“It is fun to see Rotolo Middle School buzzing with excitement and nervousness while the students get ready for their performance,” said Ellen Knautz, BPS101 parent. “It’s also fun to see the students accomplish such a feat as performing a solo or ensemble piece and receive the applause from family, friends and the adjudicator when the piece is finished!”