On Tuesday, March 11 the Memorial Middle School Advanced Band travelled to the Mandan High School Auditorium to perform at the Big Muddy Band Festival. This is a festival designed for middle school and lower level high school bands from around the state to perform for each other and for a panel of judges (normally all collegiate music professors).

For Memorial, this is their fourth consecutive year in attendance, and their fourth year bringing home a Gold Award. This award is given to any band who’s three judges scores average above a 90. This year they received a 90, 93, and 95.

The judges are also able to identify other individuals or instrument sections they would like to recognize for their outstanding performance. This year, Memorial received a number of such recognitions:

Outstanding Clarinet Section
Outstanding Percussion Section
Outstanding Alto Saxophone Section
Outstanding Bass Clarinet Soloist (Blake Baloga)
Outstanding Marimba Soloist (Lucas Smith)
Outstanding Bells Soloist (Savannah Kingsley)