East View Percussion Earns Acceptance to Music for All Festival

Every year, the Music for All Organization allows middle and high school ensembles from all over the country to submit recorded pieces of music with the hopes of being selected to attend the Music for All National Festival. This year, Georgetown ISD’s very own East View High School (EVHS) Percussion has earned a spot at the festival. 

“We had prepared a number of pieces for our percussion concert last year, and we reached a point where we were like, ‘Wait, these pieces are really good…Maybe it’s time we submit something for the festival!’,”  Andrew Blezinger, EVHS Director of Percussion, said. 

The weekend-long festival, which will take place from March 31 to April 2, 2023 in Indianapolis, IN, is split into multiple categories, so there is a chance for students of various musical talents to attend. East View percussion specifically applied to the Sandy Feldstein National Percussion Festival, a “non-competitive performance and evaluation opportunity that shines a spotlight on the nation’s most outstanding scholastic concert percussion ensembles”, according to their website. 

Once an ensemble applies, a panel of Music for All National Festival evaluators provides feedback on the recorded submissions. Following the critiques, only a handful of applicants are invited to attend the festival. Out of the high number of schools that applied from all over the country, only nine were invited to attend the percussion festival. 

“Our full percussion – about 19 students ranging from freshmen to seniors – are attending,” Blezinger said. “It is such an honor to be invited, and I know the students are so excited to be among the invitees.”

At the festival, invited groups will perform a concert, connect with other music students from across the country, and have the opportunity to sit in on classes with college professors and world famous musicians. 

“Basically, students that attend the festival are getting access to above and beyond education from really prestigious, musically talented individuals,” Blezinger said. “There have been educators present from some outstanding schools, such as Julliard, Berkley School of Music and Eastman School of music.” 

The competitive part of the festival is completed once the attendees are selected, and the honor is to be there and perform. However, the preparation for EVHS percussion is just beginning. 

Blezinger shared that EVHS percussion is commissioning a brand new piece of music to perform for the very first time at the festival. The group is also bringing along a world traveling marimba player and former president of the Percussive Arts Society, Dr. Brian Zator, as their special guest. 

“If we are going to do this, we are going all in,” Blezinger said. 

This is the first time a music organization in GISD has been invited to the Music for All Festival, which speaks even more to the achievement. 

“This has brought a lot of attention to Georgetown, and we have really seen how supportive the Georgetown community is of fine arts,” Blezinger said. “Having a community like this…it’s not a common thing. We are very lucky, and it is noticed in the way the students approach their work.”

“Seeing the work ethic these students have and their willingness to step outside of their box has been such a unique experience, and there is truly no limit to what this program can do,” Blezinger said.

For more information about the upcoming festival and to find ways to support EVHS band on their journey, visit their website.