The Monroe High School Orchestra earned a First Division rating in Class AA at Michigan School Band and Orchestra State Festival at Redford Thurston High School Thursday night (April 23.)

            “This is an amazing accomplishment for our orchestra students and a true testament to the hard work and dedication of these musicians.  I could not be more proud of them,” said MHS Orchestra Director Ann Felder.

This was the first time that the MHS Orchestra ever participated in the state festival program, Mrs. Felder said, and was only of only five Class AA orchestras across Michigan to perform in the festival this year.

            The orchestra qualified to participate in the state festival by getting first division ratings from every judge in the class AA district festival in March.

             The classification system for bands and orchestras runs similarly to the athletic groupings and is based on the school’s enrollment.  The theory is that larger schools have a bigger pool of students to draw from and therefore the top groups should be able to play more difficult music.  It is not uncommon for schools to have 2 or 3 bands and students are placed in groups by audition, much like varsity, JV, and freshmen sports teams.  The top group plays at the school’s enrollment classification and each group after that is allowed to step down 2 classifications.  In other words, the top ensemble would compete at AA, the second group at class B and the third group at class D.  Monroe High School only has one orchestra though, and more than half of the members are freshmen, making this year’s accomplishment particularly noteworthy.