Local student accepted to music festival

For some, the allure of music is the relaxation that accompanies it. For others, music’s best quality is its complexity and mental stimulation it provides.

Lind-Ritzville High School has a strong music department in which students are given the opportunity to pursue their love of music.

Local student Michael Carruth, a clarinetist, recently made the choice to carry his passion one step further. Carruth was nominated for and honorably accepted to Pacific University’s Music in May festival, a prestigious event over Memorial Day weekend.

All community members are invited to attend the performance, held on May 23 at 3 p.m. The concert will be at Stoller Center on Pacific University’s campus in Forest Grove, Oregon.

Music in May prides itself on being one of the longest running high school musical festivals in the United States. The festival consists of three high school ensembles that meet, play and practice to prepare for their culminating performance.

According to the festival’s website, “Music in May was founded in 1948 at Pacific University by Richard A. Green to encourage the development of string music in the public schools of the Pacific Northwest. Band and choir were added at the suggestion of the high school music directors, who saw the festival a means of recognizing students whose service to their schools was especially noteworthy.”

Carruth is one of 170 high school students that will be part of the band. Other ensembles in the festival include a 300 member choir and an 80 piece orchestra.

Music in May’s website continued, “Each year the number of nominees for places at Music in May far exceeds the number who can be accepted… Participants are selected based on recommendations and rating of their high school directors.” Other factors the program considers when choosing applicants includes housing availability (students stay at Pacific University) and instrumentation or voicing to provide balance in the ensembles.

Jennifer York, band director at LRHS, nominated Carruth.

She said, “I wanted to give my students a chance to explore music opportunities outside of the classroom and bi-county. This honor band brings students from all around the western United States.”

Carruth is excited for the festival, he said, “because it’s an opportunity that hasn’t really been open to me before. Especially since I don’t get to travel that often, it will be fun to see colleges and experience that.”

York said, “Michael will be rehearsing with some of the top musicians in the area. He will also be able to meet top notch music educators. He will be able to have a private music lesson with a clarinet professor and hang out with students that share his own interests.”

“I’m nervous,” Carruth said, “about what kind of expectations there will be for me to uphold as an accepted applicant.”

The festival will benefit Carruth in many ways. York explained, “I am excited for Michael to see the world outside of our community. It is going to be a great opportunity for him to feel what it is like to be at a college campus…”

Carruth concluded, “I wanted to apply because I love my instrument and any opportunity I can find to improve myself as a musician is well worth taking.”