Four BHS musicians honored

Four Bigfork High School (BHS) students were honored for their musical talents last week when three were invited to perform at the Rocky Mountain Invitational Honor Band and two were invited to perform in Montana's All State Jazz Band.

Senior Matt Sefcak will be performing percussion at both the Rocky Mountain Invitational and the All-State Jazz Band and foreign exchange student Sinah Steiner from Switzerland will play guitar in the All-State Jazz Band.

Sophomore Mielle Hubbard will play clarinet and sophomore Alex Hider will play piccolo at the invitational.

“This might be the first time Bigfork has ever had a student in an honor band,” BHS music teacher Randi Tunnell said. “They don't even realize they have these opportunities, so I throw every random thing at them. It's fun to play with other kids.”

As a foreign exchange student, Sinah was not aware of what opportunities Bigfork and Montana had for musicians. Sinah has been playing guitar since he was eight-years-old and started playing because his father played and “because it is cool.”

“I didn't even know there was such a thing as state (jazz band), it's cool and I was happy to hear it,” Steiner said.

Sefcak started playing snare drums in fifth grade and picked up full sets in seventh grade.

“It was a really big surprise to me, Tunnell told me and I didn't believe it,” Sefcak said. “My parents are really proud of me, the first thing my dad asked was if I was going to get my photo on the wall (of fame).”

Hubbard has been playing piano since first grade and started clarinet in fifth grade.

“My mom wanted us to play piano because it helps your brain,” Hubbard said. “In fifth grade I chose clarinet because it is easiest for me to play.”

Hider started playing flute in fifth grade and only recently started playing piccolo.

“I was excited when I found out I was going since I practice every day in band class,” Hider said. “I started with the flute because I like how it sounds, it's pretty. I was first flute, so I got the privilege to play piccolo and I like it because it's loud.”

Student musicians from Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota were invited to participate in the Rocky Mountain Invitational at Rocky Mountain College in Billings on Feb. 2 and 3.

“Alex picked up the piccolo half way through the year and she has definitely become a rockin' piccolo player,” Tunnell said. “Mielle is also doing great, even after spending a month in India.”

 The invitational is not a competition, but an opportunity for talented student musicians to perform together.

“All three of them for honors have always put out a lot of effort, and we're giving opportunity for them to shine because they deserve it,” Tunnell said. “They were selected based on their performance skills for both (the invitational and All-State).”

Sefcak and Steiner will perform with Montana's best student musicians in the All-State Jazz Band in Louistown on March 22 and 23.

“Matt has turned out to be a great teacher to the other younger percussionists, and Sinah just has a lot of musical talent,” Tunnell said. “Matt and Sinah were totally stoked (about All State). For honors, we talked about it and they were excited, but they anticipated it because we did paperwork for it. All-State Jazz was more of a surprise.”