Houston Brass Brand – Solo competition success!

On March 21, 2015, the Houston Brass Band held its First Annual Young Musicians Solo  Competition aimed at junior high and high school brass musicians in the greater Houston area. The event was a complete success; even the torrential rainstorms could not dampen our spirits!

This event attracted 46 competitors from 29 schools at grades 6 to 12. We apologize to the late-entry competitors, whom we had to place on a waiting list due to time constraints. The mix of instruments ranged from French horns (15), trumpets (14), trombones (9), euphoniums (4), tubas (3), and an Eb horn (1).

The adjudicators for the day came from the Houston Symphony: Mark Hughes – Principal Trumpet, Allen Barnhill – Principal Trombone, William VerMeulen – Principal Horn and Dave Kirk – Principal Tuba. The Band would like to extend its gratitude to the adjudicators, who not only worked extremely hard all day but also had a demanding performance of Verdi’s Requiem with the Houston Symphony in the evening.

The Results

Junior Division (grades 6–8) – Overall Winners

1^st place – Nathan Cloeter (French Horn / Lake Jackson Intermediate School)

2^nd Place – Bryan Nelms (Trombone / Katy Junior High School)

3^rd Place – Reed Blanchard (French Horn / Westbrook Intermediate School)

Grade Winners

Grade 6 – Emily Harris (French Horn / Westbrook Intermediate School)

Grade 7 – Jiangyuan Liu (French Horn / Lanier Middle School)

Grade 8 – Nathan Cloeter (French Horn / Lake Jackson Intermediate School)

Senior Division (grades 9-12) – Overall Winners

1^st Place – David Alexander (French Horn / HSPVA)

2^nd Place – Brandon Morrison (Euphonium / Cy Fair High School)

3^rd Place – Steven Garcia (Trumpet / Cypress Creek High School)

Grade Winners

Grade 9 – Brandon Morrison – (Euphonium / Cy Fair High School)

Grade 10 – Samuel Macaraeg – (Trombone / Brazoswood High School)

Grade 11 – David Alexander – David Alexander (French Horn / HSPVA)

Grade 12 – John Cloeter – (Trumpet / Brazoswood High School)

Well done to all the competitors and winners of the Houston Brass Band First Annual Solo Competition. We look forward to seeing all of you at our BOB (Brass Only Band) Camp on June 19-21. As a result of his winning performance in the Junior Division, we are looking forward to hearing Nathan Cloeter perform a solo with the BOB Camp band.

Also, let’s not forget David Alexander, winner of the Senior Division, who will be performing with the Houston Brass Band on November 8 at our Zilkha Hall concert.