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Almost 150 middle and high school students from the Hazelwood School District took part in the 2012 Des Lee Middle and High School Music Festivals at the University of Missouri-St. Louis this month.

“These are the largest adjudication gatherings throughout the State of Missouri,” said Robert Swingler, the choir director at Hazelwood East High School. “The E. Desmond Lee Festival gives us the opportunity to step back, share, and communicate with each other the power of music and how it changes our lives from day-to-day.  It is an extremely long day, but when you hear the quality of musicianship that is exhibited throughout the evening concert, it makes it all worthwhile.”

“It’s really a good opportunity for excelling students in band, orchestra and choir to gain experience through playing with other excelling students from the metro area,” said Ann Libby, band director at Hazelwood West Middle School. “It’s a District-wide endeavor and our kids get to know each other before they get to high school,” she added between band practices in the Anheuser-Busch Performance Hall. Conductor Larry Johnson led the students in a rehearsal of “Song of the Blacksmith,” complete with a sound that echoed that of hammers on horseshoes.

Nearby, middle school orchestra students practiced with conductor L. Michelle Howard in the Whitaker Rehearsal Hall while choir students went through vocal exercises with conductor Raynard Brown in the Lee Theater. For the high school students, Dr. Jim Henry conducted the choir, Dr. James Richards conducted the orchestra and Gary W. Brandes conducted the band.

“These students were selected for this honor,” noted John Mazar, orchestra director at Hazelwood North Middle School. “They were selected from our main student groups because they do the hard work and they spend time practicing before and after school.”

Mazar said Howard challenged the students but not to the point where they could not keep up. He and the other directors said this concert is an excellent example of musical rigor for the students.

In addition to Swingler, orchestra director Michael Hanf and band director Steve Stenzhorn attended from Hazelwood East High School. Kim Jackson, orchestra director at Hazelwood Central High School, Beth Schmedieke, orchestra director from Hazelwood West High School, Mark Thomas, band director from Hazelwood Central High School, and Aaron Jackson, band director from Hazelwood West High School attended.

Middle school band directors Eric Meurer, Deborah Moser, Brent Beckmann, Ann Libby, Thomas Schwartz and Andrew Pulliam accompanied students to the university. Middle school orchestra directors attended – Mazar, Laura Null from Hazelwood Central Middle, Michael Hanf from Hazelwood East Middle, Monica Holy from Hazelwood Northwest Middle, Annah Harting from Hazelwood Southeast Middle and Kyla Herbert from Hazelwood West Middle. Middle school choir directors who attended were Kemara Skinner from Hazelwood East and Hazelwood Southeast middle schools and Vicki Mount from Hazelwood North Middle schools.

The E. Desmond Lee Fine Arts Education Collaborative serves 122 schools in 17 school districts. Its goal is to support and enhance fine arts education in those schools. The collaborative provides for in-school performances and presentations and for off-campus learning experiences, such as field trips to Powell Symphony Hall. The Des Lee Collaborative produces three major musical performances every year – the high school music festival, the middle school music festival and the showcase concert at Powell.

(story courtesy of Hazelwood School District Communications Dept.)