DODGE CITY — Great Bend Middle School Orchestra students traveled to Dodge City Middle School on Saturday to be part of the Kansas Music Educators Association’s District Honor Orchestra.
To qualify for this event, students had to submit a recording with audition material. After judges notified those who qualified for the District Honor Orchestra, the students met once a week to work on their music with GBMS Orchestra Director Alyssa Lane, and they worked on their own as well.
On Saturday, they first met the musicians from Dodge City and Garden City, who were also part of the KMEA District Honor Orchestra. They spent about six hours in rehearsal before presenting a concert at the end of the day.
“KMEA had never had a Middle School District Honor Orchestra, so not only was it new just to our district, but it was the first one in the state,” Lane said.
GBMS student Grace Dougherty was selected as first chair viola.