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Two area students have the distinction of playing for the Wisconsin School Music Association’s Honors Band in Madison Oct. 29.
Madeline Davidson, a senior at Onalaska High School, and Hannah Josephson, a senior at Holmen High School, are no strangers to the event and continue to be exceptional representatives of the area’s emerging musical talent, say their music teachers.
Both already have long musical careers. Josephson played bassoon for the WSMA Honors band while in middle school.
Davidson played oboe in the 2006 Honors Band while in middle school as well.
They both appeared at the 2008 WSMA State Solo and Ensemble Festival, Davidson performing solo on oboe and Josephson performing solo on bassoon.
Nevertheless, both were excited about the 2009 honors. Davidson was selected as first chair in the band. “It was an opportunity to compare myself to other oboe players. The caliber of all the musicians was high.
“Participating in the honors band means you get to be with the best musicians around the state,” Davidson continued. “It’s a really rare experience of playing with that level of musicians.”
“She is an awesome student and talent,” said Dawson Strutt, the OHS band director.
Davidson said that even though she has been playing oboe for nine years, she learned a lot at the band camp during the summer. “Our conductor talked about listening to each other. We did a lot of singing stuff,” she said. “I’m not much of a singer. But I thought it was different. It was a good learning process. I think I got a lot out of it.”
Her oboe career got started because of jealousy. “My sister, a year older, started band in fifth grade and I got jealous, so my parents started me a year early,” Davidson said.
She said her earlier years of piano and violin prepared her with musical knowledge that helped her adapt to the oboe. “Oboe is not for people that do not have musical knowledge. I was told it would be good for me and I liked it,” Davidson said.
While jealousy fueled the development of Davidson as an oboe player, standing out from the crowd prompted Josephson to tackle the bassoon.
“In sixth grade I wanted to be the only one playing an instrument,” Josephson said. “I thought bassoon would be cool and I would be the only one for a while.”
That was seven years ago and now Josephson realizes how much she really doesn’t know about music. “There is always more you can learn,” she said.
While she has tried out and been accepted for the WSMA Honors Band before, this year was the first year Josephson could attend the camp. “It was a really good experience to meet other really motivated musicians,” she said. “I would do it again. It was really fun.”
Though their high school careers are coming to a close, both are planning to continue music studies in college.
Davidson has been accepted at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where she will double major in physics and music. She plans to continue with the oboe and piano and play violin for fun.
Josephson is looking at attending either Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., or Luther College to continue her music studies.
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