Decorah HS musicians do well at Solo & Ensemble Contest

Brandenburg Chamber Orchestra: (Left to right): Jonathon Winter, Sarah Horns, Lucas Blekeberg, Elizabeth Hovden, Aubrey Ellickson, Emma Breitenstein, Carolina Deifelt Streese, Drew Schwartz, Elizabeth Shroyer, Erica Bjelland

It was an outstanding day Saturday for the Decorah High School Music Department at the the annual State Solo and Ensemble Festival at Crestwood High School.

Judges handed out 11 "Best of Center" awards for the performance they deemed to be the most superior of the day and five of those awards went to Decorah HS musicians.  The judges honored senior trombonist Colin Zidlicky; a Bass Clef Trio of Michael Peter, Drew Schwartz and James Ostlie; junior violinist Lucas Blekeberg; the String Trio of Lucas Blekeberg, Drew Schwartz, and Eric Fulsaas; and the Decorah HS Madrigal Singers.  

Receiving a Perfect Ballot were junior bassoonist Claire Breitenstein, junior violinist Lucas Blekeberg, senior tenor Jonathon Winter, senior tenor Colin Zidlicky, the CC Bass Clef Octet, the CC Treble Clef 8 and the Saxophone Quartet,

The annual State Solo and Ensemble Festival is an adjudicated festival in which students receive one of five divisional ratings for their performance: Division I "Superior" rating, Division II "Excellent" rating, Division III "Good" rating, Division IV "Fair" rating, and Division V "Poor" rating.  The ratings are based on a point scale.

Division I Ratings:
Solos (55)
Flute: Amanda Taylor
Bassoon: Claire Breitenstein
Alto Saxophone: Noreen Gentry, Josh Lee
Trumpet: Patrick Larson, Emily Miller, Kaitlyn Yahr
Trombone: Colin Zidlicky
Euphonium: Lukas Goebel
Tuba: Karl Sand
Snare Drum: Reid Drenth, Jacob Kvale, T.J. Misseldine, Brian Willie
Violin: Lucas Blekeberg, Parker Beard, Jonathon Winter, Aubrey Ellickson, Emily Alcock, Blake Taylor, Elizabeth Shroyer, Lydia Hayes
Viola: Emma Breitenstein, Gabby Bruns
Cello: Rebecca Alcock, Carolina Deifelt Streese, Leah Blekeberg, Drew Schwartz
String Bass: Eric Fulsaas, Lucas Griesheimer, Erica Bjelland
Soprano: Claire Breitenstein, Bretta Krieg, Hannah Leeper, Gara Lonning, Isabela Rosales, Aidan Spencer
Alto: Carolina Deifelt Streese, Aubrey Ellickson, Rita-Marie Guzman, Linnea Kephart, Kayla Peterson
Tenor: Parker Beard, Lucas Blekeberg, Gable Lonning, Nick Vande Krol, James Ostlie, Brad Suhr, Jonathon Winter, Colin Zidlicky
Bass: Simon Cropp, Paul Fadness, Connor Freeman, Adam Knight, Blake Taylor.

Ensembles (61)
Flute & Clarinet Duet (Hemesath and C. Zidlicky)
Bassoon Trio (C. Breitenstein, Gomersall, Nesteby)
Woodwind Q5 (Varney, Markee, Peterson, DeVore, and Breitenstein)
Mixed Instrument Trio (E. Breitenstein, Faldet, C. Breitenstein)
Sax Duets (Gentry and A. Hove; C. Zidlicky and K. Hove)
Sax Quartet (C. Zidlicky, Gentry, K. Hove, A. Hove)
Sax Quintet (Marquardt, Anderson, Jostand, Knight, Bryant)
Mallet Duet (Cepeda and Sorenson)
Euphonium Duet (C. Zidlicky and Goebel)
Clarinet Choir
Woodwind Choir
Brass Choir B
Low Brass Choir
Percussion Choir
String Quartets (Ellickson, E. Alcock, Horns, and Schwartz; C. Ulring, Cropp, Gable Lonning, Baldwin)
Violin Quartet (J. Winter, Lucas Blekeberg, Shroyer, Ellickson)
Viola Quartet (J. Winter, E. Breitenstein, Horns, Ellickson)
Bass Trio (Bjelland, Pearson, Fulsaas)
Mixed Trio (Lucas Blekeberg, Schwartz, Fulsaas)
Violin Trio (Hayes, Dougan, Swanson)
String Quintet (J. Winter, Shroyer, E. Breitenstein, C. Deifelt Streese, Bjelland)
String Duets (B. Taylor and Stock; J. Winter and Shroyer; Mensen and G. Bruns; C. Deifelt Streese and Schwartz; McDonough and Leah Blekeberg)
String/Wind Duet (Munkel and R. Alcock)
Freshmen Chamber Orchestra
Sophomore Chamber Orchestra
Junior/Senior Chamber Orchestra
Brandenburg Chamber Orchestra
Vocal Duets (Beard and I. Mertzenich; Rosales and E. Breitenstein; C. Breitenstein and Ostlie; L. Ulring and Bjelland; Krieg and Schwartz; H. Holkesvik and J. Kvale; A. Hove and Guzman; DeVore and Schwartz; M. Mertzenich and Schwartzhoff)
Madrigal Singers (C. Breitenstein, Krieg, Leeper, Spencer, Bjelland, E. Breitenstein, Guzman, K. Peterson, Beard, Lucas Blekeberg, I. Mertzenich, J. Winter, H. Holkesvik, Schwartz, B. Taylor, C. Zidlicky)
CC Chamber Singers
VC Chamber Choir
CC Mixed Octet (Leeper, Rosales, Faldet, K. Peterson, Beard, I. Mertzenich, Gowdy-Jaehnig, H. Holkesvik)
Sophomore Mixed Quartet (Spencer, Guzman, N. Vande Krol, Michel)
Sophomore Treble Clef 7 (A. Hove, Spencer, Hayes, Kittleson, M. Mertzenich, Galligan, Guzman)
VC Treble Clef 6 (A. Smith, Voigt, L. Balderrama, K. Minear, G. Deifelt Streese, Schwartzhoff)
CC Treble Clef 8 (C. Breitenstein, Krieg, Bjelland, Leeper, Rosales, E. Breitenstein, C. Deifelt Streese, Ellickson)
Junior Treble Clef Trio (Krieg, C. Breitenstein, Grimm)
Junior Treble Clef Trio (Locke, K. Peterson, Kelly)
CC Treble Clef 8 (Morgan Ihde, Larsen, L. Ulring, Bernatz, Katie Whitehill, Kinsey Whitehill, Faldet, K. Fretheim)
CC Treble Clef 8 (Hudson, K. Yahr, M. Holkesvik, Ingvalson, K. Svestka, Canoy, J. Hoyme, Lane)
9th Grade Bass Clef 9 (Eide, P. Fretheim, Hageman, Cropp, S. Holkesvik, W. Yahr, Reid Drenth, C. Kvale, Schuring)
9th Grade Bass Clef 9 (Foster, Gable Lonning, Hageman, Knight, Baldwin, Fadness, Dostal, Reese Drenth, Freeman)
VC Bass Clef 12 (Gossman, Suhr, N. Vande Krol, Henning, Imoehl, Trewin, Deen-Lester, Phillips, B. Taylor, S. Iverson, Stock, C. Svestka)
Junior Bass Clef Trio (Peter, Schwartz, Ostlie)
VC/CC Bass Clef 9 (Misseldine, Suhr, N. Vande Krol, DeVore, Humpal, Lee, Klammer, J. Kvale, Sullivan)
Bass Clef Quartet (N. Vande Krol, I. Mertzenich, Michel, Schwartz)
CC Bass Clef Octet (Beard, Larson, Lucas Blekeberg, I. Mertzenich, H. Holkesvik, Nelson, Gowdy-Jaehnig, Sorenson).

Division II Ratings:
Solos (62)
Flute: Kilah Hemesath, Shelby Varney, Clara Kittelson, Brianna Burke, Senia Sikkink Oboe: Emily Markee
Clarinet: Colin Zidlicky, Kelli Minear
Saxophone: Makenzie Wieseler
Trumpet: Ethan Hougen, Alex Bishop, Erik Dale, Tyler Lubke, Maddy Ihde
French Horn: Tim DeVore, Paul Sullivan, Will Yahr
Trombone: Lukas Phillips
Euphonium: Abby Smith, Fred Paulson
Tuba: Hans Holkesvik, Patrick Murphy
Snare: Maria Mertzenich, Linnea Kephart, Jacob Hrdlicka, Micheal Foster, Matt Schissel Violin: Abby Meirick
Viola: Sarah Horns
Cello: Maria McDonough, Rachel Haindfield
Bass: Christian Pearson
Soprano: Hannah Donaldson, Emily Gomersall, Brenna Herrmann, Annalise Johnson, Vilde Jacobsen, Abigail Smith, McKenzie Snyder
Alto: Leah Davis, Carli Galligan, Lydia Hayes, Alison Schwartzhoff
Tenor: Micheal Foster, Ryan Hageman, Isaac Mertzenich, T. J. Misseldine
Bass: Wyatt Anderson, Tim DeVore, Tyler Dostal, Reese Drenth, Lukas Goebel, Bjorn Gowdy-Jaehnig, Hans Holkesvik, Noah Klammer, Jacob Kvale, Kaleb Michel, Anthony Sherman, Andrew Sorenson, Sean Trewin, and Will Yahr.

Ensembles (25)
Flute Duets: (Kittelson and Kelley; Selig and Miller)
Clarinet Duet: (C. Zidlicky and Peterson)
Woodwind Trio: (Burke, Galligan, K. Minear)
French Horn Quintet: (Devore, Sullivan, H. Hougen, M. Holkesvik)
Brass Quintet: (E. Hougen, Yahr, Sullivan, G. Minear)
Trombone Trio (Madrigal, Kelly, P. Kephart)
Euphonium Duet: (Dambek and C. Bruns)
Mallet Duet (Dambek, Drow)
Percussion Quartet (J. Kvale, Gowdy-Jaehnig, Misseldine, Mertzenich)
Percussion Quintet (Kephart, Foster, Willie, J. Hrdlicka, Reid Drenth)
Flute Choir
Brass Choir A
String Duets (Leeper and Krieg; Marlow and G. Bruns; Mensen and J. Iverson; E. and R. Alcock)
String Quartet (J. Winter, Samuelson, Kemp, C. Deifelt Streese)
Double Trio (Cowie, Tietz, Robinson, M. Hovden, Good, Leah Blekeberg)
String Quintet (Beard, I. Mertzenich, Pierce, E. Hovden, Faldet)
Vocal Duets (Suhr & N. Vande Krol)
CC Chamber Choir
9th Grade Chamber Choir
9th Grade Treble Clef Sextet (Gomersall, Gara Lonning, Herrmann, Snyder, Kane, L. Kephart)
9th Grade Treble Clef 9 (Cowie, Haars, Radditz, Kelley, A. Vande Krol, Vermace, Leah Blekeberg, Green, Swanson)
VC Treble Clef 7 (N. Olson, Vilardo, M. Hoyme, Jacobsen, Mensen, Johnson, C. Mitchell)

Clarinet Choir: Front row, L to R: Colin Zidlicky, Mary Murphy, Anna Kane, Randi-Kate Canoy, Aubrey Mitchel Second row, L to R: Ashley Peterson, Kellie Sharp, Noelle Olson, Alexis Holm, Kirsten Arneson, Brianna Burke, Ian Wold Not pictured: Katie Ott, Olivia Mitchell, Jenna Hrdlicka, Olivia Dieschbourg, Kelly Minear, Gara Lonning

Mixed Octet: (Left to right): Hans Holkesvik, Hannah Leeper, Bjorn Gowdy-Jaehnig, Kayla Peterson, Isabela Rosales, Parker Beard, Pearl Faldet, Isaac Mertzenich