First Place Goes to the Musicians at Finley

Students in Robert M. Finley Middle School's concert and jazz bands recently showed thousands that Glen Covers know music when they won first place in the Music in the Parks Festival at Busch Gardens in Virginia. 

The festival, which featured 25 schools from along the east coast, provides music competitions for student bands, orchestras, choirs and other music groups each year. 

Since February, school officials said, the seventh and eighth grade students rehearsed the winning selections for the competition. After several performances, both bands took home first place honors.  

"The concert band was up against nine other schools and the jazz band competed against four other schools," explained Nick Carbuto, the band's director. "Each group played a warm-up piece that was non-adjudicated and two adjudicated pieces."

The concert band played "Hudson River Suite" by John O'Reilly and "Into the Storm" by Robert W. Smith. It earned a rating of superior — the highest in the competition — with an average score of 90.5. 

The jazz band performed "Jump, Jive An' Wail" by Louis Prima and "25 or 6 to 4" by Robert Lamm and it was awarded an excellent rating by the judges, with 87 as its average score.

"The students really showed a lot of poise and maturity onstage and offstage," Carbuto said. "They performed like professionals and it was a pleasure to work with such talented and nice kids. This was all about making great music on a regular basis."

This year also marked the start of the students stepping up to the next level, because for the past 12 years, Finley has attended a smaller music competition at Dorney Park in Pennsylvania. Administrators decided to change competitions after the state moved its annual math assessment to May.  

The change, however, worked out for the students in the end because they were able to compete against more schools and showcase their talents in front of a larger audience. 

"We've never gone this far, so it was really exciting," Carbuto said. "For 12 years, we've had a first place streak at Dorney Park and to win first place at Busch Gardens was remarkable."

There is a national competition coming up next May, but it is unclear whether the bands will attend.

"It's a budgeting and scheduling issue," Carbuto said. "At the moment, we are scheduled for Dorney for next year."

And while plans for 2010-11 competitions are still being discussed, administrators said, they will continue to celebrate the young musicians' recent win. 

"The judging was detailed and stringent, and the competition was at a high level," said Nomi Rosen, the Glen Cove School District's fine arts coordinator. "However, our students showed poise and maturity on and off the stage. They certainly made Finley and our community very proud."