On March 3rd, the Bolles band will be traveling to East High School in Gainesville to participate in the Music Performance Assessment, commonly known as MPA for the first time as a high school.

“Out of the six levels of music, six being college level, I think we will play a three or four,” said Mr. Ryan Schulz, the band director. He has gone through a series of six music piece changes in order to prepare for the assessment.  

The assessment (MPA) allows bands to be evaluated on a performance of three prepared pieces and two pieces the band may have never seen before – a sight read. Molly Sheppard (‘17), who was once in the Bolles band, said that sight reading is a challenge, “You have to learn how to listen and be in tune with everybody, not just the people in your section.”

During the on-stage performance, four judges will rate each piece in a scale from poor to superior before the band goes into a separate room to begin the sight reading.

Students were asked their opinion about MPA and how they prepare. Most students, such as Robert Pooley (‘16), believe that the band will do well and do a run through of the music outside of school.

When asked about MPA, Jackson Roberts (‘19), a euphonium player, said, “I don’t think I’m nervous. Mr. Schulz is a great teacher, who will help us succeed.”
Schulz says the pieces for the performance are still undecided. “When choosing a piece, you want it to be fun to play and still educational. It needs to be the best fit for the band.” said Schulz.