RAL Musicians Prove to be Superior: Instrumental Solo Ensemble Results

By Travis Bright

Brent MacKenzie 10, and Alex Ahlgren 11, dominated SWWMEA Instrumental Solo Ensemble contest Saturday February 6^th at Kelso high school.

Ahlgren played a piece called “Transfiguration” on snare drum, and placed second in the region, becoming first alternate for state.

Ahlgren doesn’t know exactly why he only placed second for his near perfect performance

“The only other thing I could have done is play a little bit more in the middle of the drum,” Ahlgren said.

Ahlgren’s piece “Transfiguration” is rated as a level 5 piece of music, basically an advanced piece of music.

Surprisingly it did not take Ahlgren that long to learn the piece.

“It took me about three weeks to perfect it,” Ahlgren said.

It is unlikely Ahlgren will go to state because of how small the division we are in is, opposed to a much larger area like Seattle. The way it works is the region with the most performers gets the alternate position.

This was Ahlgren’s second time performing at the regional contest and plans on going next year as well.

While this was MacKenzie’s first time at the competition, nerves did not impact his ability to place first, and qualify to compete at the state competition. MacKenzie played a piece on Alto Saxophone called “Improvisation Et Caprice.”

“It is a pretty difficult piece, the most difficult I have ever played, but it is really worth all the work it took,” MacKenzie said.

 “Improvisation Et Caprice” was originally written in 1952 by Eugène Bozza. It is one of the most difficult pieces played at the competition, and most musicians do not play it until they are at a college level.

In the past years, appearances for RAL band students have been scarce. The last time a band student qualified for state, was in 2005, and even then they did not place.

The state competition takes place in Ellensburg on the last Thursday and Friday of April, MacKenzie plans on playing a perfected version of “Improvisation Et Caprice”.