{"id":12846,"date":"2026-03-11T11:16:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T17:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cortez-middle-school-bands-earn-back-to-back-superior-ratings-at-nmmea-music-performance-assessment\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:32:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:32:45","slug":"cortez-middle-school-bands-earn-back-to-back-superior-ratings-at-nmmea-music-performance-assessment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cortez-middle-school-bands-earn-back-to-back-superior-ratings-at-nmmea-music-performance-assessment\/","title":{"rendered":"Cortez Middle School bands earn back-to-back superior ratings at NMMEA Music Performance Assessment"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cortez
Cortez Middle School\u2019s eighth grade band received a superior rating in all three performances and a superior rating in sight reading. (Courtesy of Andrew Campo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

The Montezuma\u2011Cortez Middle School bands earned top honors with superior ratings at the NMMEA Music Performance Assessment in Farmington, marking the first time the program has achieved the distinction in consecutive years.<\/p>\n

Both the seventh and eighth grade bands earned superior ratings, the highest possible, in all three on\u2011stage performance categories judged by a three\u2011member panel. In the NMMEA system, a superior rating corresponds to an \u201cA\u201d grade, followed by excellent, good, fair and poor.<\/p>\n

The seventh graders performed \u201cManchester March\u201d by John Edmondson, \u201cCathedral\u201d by Lloyd Conley and \u201cTheme and Variations\u201d by Timothy Broege. They received superior ratings for their stage performance and an excellent rating in sight-reading.<\/p>\n

The eighth graders performed \u201cActivity March\u201d by Harold Bennett, arranged by Larry Clark, \u201cCanticle of the Sun\u201d by Clark and \u201cSea Song Fantasy,\u201d arranged by Ann McGinty. The group earned superior ratings across all stage categories as well as in sight\u2011reading.<\/p>\n

\"The
The seventh grade band received superior ratings in all three performance and an excellent rating in sight reading. (Courtesy of Andrew Campo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cWe got a piece of music nobody had ever seen before, including me, and we had a few minutes to go through things,\u201d band teacher Andrew Campo said. \u201cThen we play it from beginning to end without ever practicing it. It really tests our literacy, which is a big deal to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the nine weeks leading up to the assessment at San Juan College\u2019s Performing Arts Center, the CMS bands worked through intensive preparation to rehearse their selections and strengthen sight\u2011reading skills. About 140 students participated in the program this year, with roughly 70 in each grade\u2011level band, which Campo said is the largest turnout the school has seen.<\/p>\n

Students were jubilant when they learned how well they had performed. Campo said many jumped and cheered after hearing their ratings, celebrating the payoff of weeks of practice and focus.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always talk about not being able to control the judges score, but we need to go and play the very best we know how to play,\u201d Campo said. I think everybody felt like we happened to play on stage the best we could play, so it was a very good feeling \u2026 when they realized they got high scores.\u201d<\/p>\n

Campo shared that Justin Hubbard, Director of Bands at Fort Lewis College and one of the judges, spoke with Campo afterward, expressing strong praise for the bands and offering to collaborate with the middle school program in the future.<\/p>\n

He also received encouraging feedback from Justin Hubbard, director of bands at Fort Lewis College and one of the assessment judges. Campo said Hubbard praised the maturity and technique of both ensembles and offered to work with the middle school bands in the future, a gesture Campo described as a meaningful compliment.<\/p>\n

Twenty-two bands participated.<\/p>\n

The district\u2019s next major music event is the All District Band Night concert, scheduled for Tuesday, April 7 at 7 p.m. in the Montezuma\u2011Cortez High School main gym. The program will feature groups from sixth through 12th performing individual works as well as a mass\u2011ensemble piece selected nearly 60 years ago by Ralph Vivek.<\/p>\n

The Montezuma\u2011Cortez Middle School spring band concert is scheduled for Tuesday, May 12 at 7 p.m. in the middle school main gym.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

the first time the bands have achieved superior ratings in back-to-back years<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[21,147,155,28,60,559,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-12846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cortez","tag-cortez-middle-school","tag-education","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-county","tag-music","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12846"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12846\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18699,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12846\/revisions\/18699"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12846"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=12846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}