The advanced orchestra practices for their Large Performance Evaluation (LGPE) on Jan. 17. Orchestra students will be going to Cedar Shoals High School on Feb. 28 to perform in front of a panel of judges who will evaluate their playing skills on a number of levels. “(When) you’re playing in front of professionals and it makes you want to get better at the songs so they’ll be impressed by how you play it,” viola player Edmund Davis, a CCHS sophomore said. Photo by Katie Grace Upchuch
By KATIE GRACE UPCHURCH – Web Master
The Clarke Central High School orchestra will be performing in the Georgia Music Educators Association’s Large Performance Evaluation on Feb. 28 at Cedar Shoals High School.
The Clarke Central High School orchestra has been preparing to perform at the Georgia Music Educators Association’s Large Performance Evaluation (LGPE) on Feb. 28. LGPE is an evaluation process in which an orchestra consisting of 17 members or more perform a selection of songs for judges as well as cite read a song and participate in a workshop.
“(LGPE) is an annual event and it is an adjudicated event with three judges who are experts in their field or orchestra and orchestra directing. We perform three selections from a pre approved list – the Georgia Music Educators Association makes the list and you have to (play) at a certain level,” Orchestra Director Dr. Eunice Kang said. “(There are) levels one, two, three, four, five and six based on difficulty.”
The intermediate and advanced orchestras, will be playing together at level three and mastery orchestra will be playing at level four.
“We prepare about two months before (the performance), we get our music right when we get back from winter break and then we practice that until LGPE,” viola player Edmund Davis said, a CCHS sophomore said. “So every single day we practice.”
The judges will be grading the performance on a number of components of orchestra on a one to four scale. One is a superior, two is excellent, three is very good and four is good.
“The past few years they have (received) a one – that’s a superior,” Davis said. “And so this year I want to get a one.”
The orchestras have been preparing their songs using many different strategies which help with different aspects of the rubric that the judges will use to grade their performances.
“We have our selections now and we have begun working on them intensely,” Kang said. “I’ll separate them into sections, and students have their music which they take home and practice at home, and I’ll have other guest teachers come in and practice with them as well.”
In addition to their daily practice, orchestra will hold a practice concert on Feb. 23 in which they will perform the songs that will play at LGPE.
“We basically try as much as possible to be a group by listening to each other, each section knowing what the other sections are playing,” Kang said. “Trying to raise awareness of the entire group and what’s going on.”
According to Davis, although orchestra holds concerts throughout the year, playing in LGPE gives the orchestra a clear goal, which raises their work ethics and helps them perform better.
“What’s really good about LGPE is that it is a fun experience. Some people can be nervous about the grading, but that’s an aspect of everything – everyone gets nervous over something, but it’s what you do in that point of (stress) that really counts,” Davis said. “And so, because of that – I really like to do it because you get to see your scores compared to last year’s and so you can get better. It is a reflection of how you did, and what you can do better.”
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