The FMEA Guitar Festival hosted University High School on February 15th at Freedom High School. There were performances of solo and small ensembles which lasted ten minutes and had a 15 and 10 dollar entrance fee.
Students prepare and practice both in the class and at home in order to best exemplify the school at the festival. “We practiced our solos on our own time and we then went in front of our class to perform our solos to get used to the nerves, that way we can go in front of the judges and perform better,” said senior Mason Thatcher.
Freshman Gabriel Colon, who performed his own solo song and participated in the ensemble agrees that events like this are great for improving solo skills and getting better as a group. “I think it was something that was needed especially in learning really great to have some experience, you know, giving me that feedback that I really need. I really did enjoy all of that, I think it was great. Though, I think there are things that we need to work on as an ensemble,” said Colon.
The audition material for the 2025-2026 All-State Guitar Ensemble will be available in May of 2025. There were 29 students out of all the schools who participated that were accepted into the 2025 FMEA All-State Guitar Ensemble: “I listen to the process of them when they are getting pretty good and help them get ready for when they submit their performances to be chosen based on their performance and ability,” said Aquino.
The two other ensembles were 30 minutes and 60 with a 150 and a 300 dollar entrance fee respectively. There were 24 solo entries and 21 people in the ensemble participating, the ensemble entry fees were paid for by guitar teacher Ms. Carmen Aquino.
