A team of three Advanced Music students from Pine City traveled to St. Cloud on Friday and took part in the Region 5 competition of the Minnesota Music Listening Contest (MLC). Celebrating its 25th year, Pine City was taking part in the competition for the second time, having won their region in 2008 and advancing to the State Finals. In this statewide contest, students develop skills in active listening and critical analysis by learning to identify composers, cultures, periods and styles. The 5-round, 2-hour long listening contest is an exercise challenges students both in advanced aural recognition and academic information about composers and compositions.
This year’s team once again turned in impressive results, placing 4th out of 15 teams. Scoring 71 out of a possible 100 points, Pine City stacked up well. Advancing to State were teams from Montevideo (89 points) and Buffalo (79 points).
Pine City’s team consisted of three juniors who are taking Pine City’s Advanced Music History and Theory course: Alex Frerich, Jacob White, and Adam Martin. The team was coached by music instructor Bradley Mariska.
Pine City has been named a “Best Community for Music Education in America” by the NAMM Foundation in both 2010 and 2011.
