Contest!

It's been many years since I've been surrounded by students in their daytime setting, the high school. And I've only sporadically accompanied singers on the piano. In high school, I'd play the national anthem and school song at assemblies. But that was low-level compared to supporting soloists - nine of them - at the annual Minnesota State High School League Music Contest held earlier this month at the University of Minnesota Duluth.

It was a challenging role. Any mistake will be obvious both to judges and to the vocalist. The pieces our new Cromwell-Wright music teacher, MaryRose Varo, chose for each student were beautiful, but often demanding for a pianist. Especially a rusty one like me. The songs were often long, requiring as many as five pages of sheet music taped together and sometimes almost out of eyesight towards the end! Many pieces required the singer to switch keys, in some cases more than once. Those shifts create a marvelous lift in spirit and mood for both the singer and listeners. But suddenly I had to play on four black keys and honor all the sharps and flats. Four measures later, it might change again!

At first, our rehearsals were rocky.

Every Tuesday morning, for three-plus hours, I worked one-on-one with each vocalist in a small cordoned-off room with a piano rather out of tune. They tolerated my errors. Gradually I improved. I found I loved working with each one. Getting feedback from them, grateful for their tolerance and, above all, delighted that they were working so hard to master challenging songs. Several of them sang in Italian or Spanish. At home, I practiced on my baby grand, a safe space where I could work through my glitches.

Our music team of Kristin Hallsten and MaryRose Varo have been working music wonders with our Cromwell-Wright students. Their Christmas concert, featuring both senior- and junior high choirs and bands, was the best I've ever heard. Parents and community members jammed the bleachers - our auditorium is too small to contain so much energy and attention.

Varo, an accomplished guitarist, singer-songwriter and organizer of the talent show at our annual Carlton County fair, is in her first year as our full-time senior- and junior high choral teacher. She also instructs in composition and bucket drumming.

In a recent conversation, she shared with me her experience. "It's much broader and more creative than I thought it would be. When I first heard Cromwell students sing, I found they had beautiful tone and sang on pitch!"

MaryRose's philosophy is to encourage the potential for excellence she sees in each student. I thought her song choices for each soloist were remarkable, playing to their strengths and vocal ranges and prompting them to stretch beyond what they'd done before.

On March 12, we arrived at UMD for the Music Contest, a one-day event for band and choral high schools in our region. I listened to the high school choir, led by MaryRose with Kristen Hallsten on the baby grand piano. They opened with Michael W. Smith's "Great is the Lord" and closed with "Requiem" by Eliza Gilkyson, written after the recent Japanese tsunami. They won an Excellent ranking.

The soloists and I then submerged ourselves in practice rooms that I found tiny and shockingly poor: piano benches way too low, squeaky pedals, and many strings out of tune! But we managed to sail through every student's piece together as a warm-up.

We flew through the performances. In our first room, I played a beautiful baby grand, backing up Alaina Lind with her gorgeous "A La Nanita Nana," sung in Spanish. This was the most challenging piece for me, a fast-paced Latin rhythm, a softer and gentler mood in the middle, and at least four key changes! Alaina did a beautiful job, helping me get past my stage fright. The judge sits in a chair in front of the listeners and immediately responds, offering compliments and making suggestions. The first judge we had was particularly keen to improve singers' diction, making them re-sing certain phrases, correcting their vowels.

Halfway through the afternoon, we moved into another room, where I was delighted to encounter my third cousin, Beth Wilson, longtime choral teacher at Cloquet High School. As our judge, I thought Beth did a marvelous job, enthusiastically and with many rapidly conveyed suggestions. But maybe I'm biased!

The performances ended with a jazzy seven-student ensemble - two basses, two tenors, two altos and a soprano - singing Billy Joel's "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me," complete with snapping fingers and Varo on the guitar. It was stunning and joyful, and our modestly sized audience clapped their palms off afterward. They won a Superior rating from Beth Wilson, the highest possible.

If you'd like to hear our singers closer to home, Varo has arranged a special recital featuring the soloists and ensembles who performed at Contest for 7 p.m. Thursday, April 4, in the Cromwell-Wright School auditorium.

Also, our bands, choirs and more special ensembles will be performing at the annual spring concert at 6 p.m. May 16 in the gymnasium.

Ann Markusen is an economist and professor emerita at University of Minnesota. A Pine Knot board member, she lives in Red Clover Township north of Cromwell with her husband, Rod Walli.