Mount Music Conservatory Hosts Auditions

Balloons outside the Mount Conservatory of Music in Atchison suggested that there was something more than ordinary music lessons on Saturday, March 12. Inside, 107 music students from all over the Atchison region moved through the halls. They had come for the conservatory's annual music auditions and they were ready to show their skills.

The auditions were started thirty years ago by Sister Chrysostom Koppes, long-time local piano teacher. Each year, area music teachers are invited to send students to the event. It is not a competition between performers, but a chance for each to be heard and evaluated by professional musicians. They perform privately before a qualified listener, called an adjudicator, who then gives each student a detailed evaluation of his or her performance. Angie Bounds, violinist with the Benedictine String Quartet, was the adjudicator for string students. Ruth Krusemark, chair of the Benedictine College music department, evaluated voice, wind and brass students, as well as piano. Karen Halverhout, retired professor of piano at UMKC, heard the pianists and harpists. Although this was her first trip to Atchison, she has done many such events. She is enthusiastic about student auditions, saying, "It is such a good chance for them to get feedback from someone else. It reinforces suggestions the teacher has made and gives them an additional reward."

Some of the participants study music only a few steps away at the Atchison Middle School. Their teacher, Jill Mueller, was here for the third year, with twelve band members. "It really boosts their confidence and lets them show their individual talents. It's also a great preparation for high school," she said of the experience. Students Brooke Richardson, Daniel Rasmussen and Nathan Pickman sat nervously on the line of chairs fingering their clarinets, while Megan Laflin awaited her scores and percussionist Kevin Shanks beat the air with the drumsticks he would use soon on a set of orchestral bells. "It's always scary to have to do a solo," said one, and another remarked that the long waits make one even more nervous. However, they also admitted it was a good experience as they encouraged and congratulated their classmates coming in and out of the studios.

Other students had come greater distances. Brenda Warner has brought piano students from St. Joseph for several years. "It puts some positive pressure on them and gives them a goal." One of her students, Erica Baker, has come four times. "I'm going to districts this year and I know that having the experience here will be really good preparation," says the high schooler confidently. Karen Wood, parent of two very young pianists, thinks it will help her daughters overcome their shyness. Their beaming faces as they returned with their certificates seemed to confirm her hope.

The students are given a very specific list of qualities in their performance. In addition to the advice and encouragement of the written evaluation, each student also receives a certificate of participation. Blue ribbons are awarded to all who receive a "superior" rating for their performance. This year, 40 students were so honored, but every young musician leaves as a winner.

Sister Joachim Holthaus (seated) and Sister Cecilia Olson,
Conservatory director, gave certificates to many proud young musicians
like Cecilia and Francine Wood, daughters of John and Karen Wood
of St. Joseph, Missouri