Douglas High music students bring home top awards

Judges in the March 16 Northern Zone Nevada Music Educators Association Band Festival said the Douglas High School band was the best band at the event.

Douglas High music director Bill Zabelsky reported that the concert band earned a 1, also known as a superior rating, as did the jazz band. The festival was held in Fallon.

At the Northern Zone Nevada Music Educators Association Choir Festival in Yerington on March 23, the Nightingales, the DHS choir, earned a 1-, the first time the group has ever taken a superior rating, Zabelsky said.

The Image choir earned a 1 plus, and the Madrigal Singers was named the best group in the festival and the only group to earn a 1 plus plus rating.

All groups are eligible to participate in the music festival at Milpitas High School in Milpitas, Calif., May 12, Zabelsky reported.

To raise funds for their trip, a benefit concert will be held Tuesday, April 18, at 7:30 p.m. in the DHS commons. All five groups will perform their festival pieces.

Music students are selling tickets at $5, and tickets will be available at the door.

Twenty-two students will perform in the All State concert April 1 at 5 p.m. at the Reno Convention Center. There is no admission.

The band, jazz band, choir and orchestra all have representatives in the all-state concert for the first time, Zabelsky said.

Students to perform in the NZNMEA festivals include Justin McClelland, Amy Zabelsky, Kristen Schell, Lauren Davis, Randy Cox, James Jackson, Mary Zimmerman, Chelsea Rowe, Larry Rubald, Matthew Parra, Richard Ridley, Bonnie Lee, Kelly McIntosh, Alicia Burns, Lauren Myers, Daniel Dimick and Jason Smith, choir; and Sara Whitaker, Anthony Janssen, Rose Barrett, Jenny English, band; and Amber Smith, band and choir.