Announcements

BMS Spring Band Concert Recordings:

The recordings of the recent Jazz Band and Concert Band concerts have been posted to the "Recordings" page of this website. To access the recordings, please click on the "Recordings" tab at the top of this page. Once you are on the "Recordings" page, please navigate to the class that you would like to listen to (i.e. 6th Grade Band, or Jazz Band, etc). Please click on the Spring Concert link for that Band under Concert Recordings. 

BMS 8th Grade Band - Music in the Parks Festival Results:

The Bluffs Middle School 8th Grade Concert Band, under the direction of Mr. Michael A. Koch, participated in the 2024 Music in the Parks Festival held on Saturday, May 4th.

The Band performed at Arvada High School in Arvada, Colorado and competed against four other bands that were similar in school size. The Band was adjudicated by two judges on tone quality, intonation, rhythm, technique, and musicality. They performed two pieces for the judges: "Three Minutes To Midnight" by JaRod Hall and "Darklands March" by Randall Standridge.

The Band received an EXCELLENT Rating from both judges (receiving an average of 88.5 out of 100 points) and the Fourth Place Trophy for Class A. 

This is the 19th year that the BMS 8th Grade Bands have participated at the festival.

CONGRATULATIONS!

We are so PROUD of your efforts and accomplishments.

Western Nebraska Middle Level Music Contest: On Saturday, February 24, 2024, students from Bluffs Middle School had the opportunity to play and be adjudicated on their solos. This years judges were Michael Stephens (Woodwind professor from Chadron State College), John Wojcik (Brass professor from Chadron State College), and Randy Raines (retired band director from Gering). They were judged on musical skills such as Articulation, Balance/Blend, Dynamics, Intonation, Note Accuracy, Rhythm Accuracy, Phrasing, Tone Quality, Technique, and Tempo. This Contest is designed to be a very positive learning experience for the students. The judges take the time to talk to each Soloist to offer encouragement and advice to help them improve as players. Student's performances are rated on the following scale:

Division I - Superior

Division II - Excellent

Division III - Good

Division IV - Fair

Division V - Unprepared

Bluffs Middle School students received the following ratings:

8th Grade Band - 17 Division I - Superior Ratings, 4 Division II - Excellent Ratings

7th Grade Band - 31 Division I - Superior Ratings, 7 Division II - Excellent Ratings

6th Grade Band - 33 Division I - Superior Ratings, 12 Division II - Excellent Ratings

Congratulations to all who participated. We are very proud of all of you!

8th Grade All-State Band Selected: Zac Konrad, Nebraska State Bandmasters Association Middle Level Chair, announced the results of the NSBA 2024 8th Grade All State Band Auditions. There were 426 students from 70 schools who auditioned. Based on their recorded audition, the NSBA Honor Band committee selected 92 students and 22 alternates from 49 schools for the band. Bluffs Middle School had 13 students complete the audition and 7 students were selected to be members of this prestigious group of young musicians. Students selected from BMS include: London Grant - 1st Chair Clarinet, Zain Jennings - Bass Clarinet, Caleb Clodfelter - Trumpet, Gauge Vela - Trumpet, William Green - 1st Chair Baritone, Samantha Camacho - Percussion, and William Schlickbernd - Percussion. These students will travel to Kearney in January to rehearse and perform with the other members of the honor band. Congratulations to those students who were selected and to all those who auditioned.

Old West Weekend Parade Results: Congratulations to the 7th and 8th Grade Marching Band for their performance at the Old West Weekend Parade on Saturday, October 14th. The students were judged on their playing skills (Tone Quality, Intonation, Rhythmic Precision, Articulation, Balance, and Interpretation) and their marching skills (Rank Alignment, File Alignment, Posture, Uniform Instrument Position, Uniform Step Style, and Players In Step). The Band received a Division 1 -  Superior Rating from all four judges. We are very proud of their performance and happy to see all of their hard work pay off.