Three Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts music ensembles earned state recognition recently — including two of them taking top honors at their respective state competitions.
ASMSA’s Wind Ensemble placed first by earning straight Superiors/First Division ratings in the Arkansas School Band and Orchestra Association Class 3A Statewide Concert Assessment on April 16 at Bryant High School. Their performance netted the ensemble the honor to serve as the featured Honor Band at the 2025 ASBOA statewide concert contest. It was only the second time that ASMSA has participated in a statewide contest.
The school’s SSA/Treble Choir traveled to Conway on April 15 and earned a Superior overall rating and was named Best in Classification for Class 3A at the Arkansas Choral Directors Association State Festival that was held at the University of Central Arkansas. The choir is directed by adjunct instructor Jordan Murdock.
ASMSA’s String Ensemble placed 14th overall, earning straight Excellents/Second Division ratings at the ASBOA Class 3A Statewide Concert Assessments on April 16 at Bryant. It was the first time that the String Ensemble has competed in a statewide or regional contest.
Speaking about the Wind Ensemble’s performance, Dr. Thomas Dempster, who serves as the Wind Ensemble’s director and associate dean for arts and humanities for ASMSA, said, “To say I am ‘pleased’ would be a severe understatement. I am deeply proud of what these students have accomplished this year. We already perform four concerts per year, with music ranging from at-grade-level, age-appropriate to college-level works, and in the past few years, we’ve performed a few advanced college-level works, including at concert assessment.”
Dempster said the Wind Ensemble learned one of its state assessment pieces in about three weeks’ time, “a significant departure from typical approaches.” The students’ talent, maturity, musical sophistication, and most importantly, their desire to learn and improve — technically, lyrically and thoughtfully — was incredible, he said. “Our result at the state concert contest is a testament to these positive traits and the work ethic these kids have. I could ask for no better wind ensemble to work with.”
Dr. Nathan Groot, the ASMSA music instructor who serves as the String Ensemble’ director, said ASMSA’s String Ensemble was one of only seven string ensembles out of 86 overall ensembles to compete at the state contest. The other string ensembles were from Bentonville, Rogers and Little Rock.
“Our 14-member ensemble was the smallest orchestra, but we scored within 10 points of most of the larger 40- to 50-member groups,” Groot said. “I am very proud of the hard work that our students put into this music and this concert assessment season.”
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Dempster said that since ASMSA draws students from across the state, its music programs don’t have a traditional “feeder program” for the ensembles. The students and ensemble leaders have worked hard to overcome those challenges to develop a program that is not only resulting in the school earning group recognition but for individual students receiving awards and scholarships as well. The success of the ensembles and individual students will help ASMSA “become a destination” for student musicians, he said.
“In just the past few years, we have had students accepted to regionally and nationally prestigious programs in music — with full scholarships — for music education, composition or technology,” Dempster said.
That includes institutions such as the University of Arkansas, Arkansas State University, the University of Central Arkansas, Hendrix College, the University of Missouri at Kansas City, Georgia Tech, the University of Central Missouri, the University of Kansas, Louisiana State University, Boston University, Amherst College, Bowdoin College and the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University.
Dempster said that the Wind Ensemble has transformed from a group that played two concerts a year to four concerts a year with more difficult pieces. He thanked and praised his fellow educators and administrators for their efforts to grow and support ASMSA’s music education program.
“I have fantastic colleagues, full-time and part-time, in music at ASMSA who have given much to the success of the program,” Dempster said. “Our String Ensemble grows stronger and stronger each year under Dr. Groot’s leadership, with numerous solo and ensemble Superiors and successful All-Region and All-State orchestra placements.
“We have a strong Wind Ensemble program, a newer yet accomplished and growing string orchestra program, and a choir program undergoing transformation, resulting in all three flagship ensembles performing at high levels at statewide competitive events, with two of our ensembles netting state titles this year.”