• Region’s top band students coming to Gaston County for all-district clinic

    Again this year, Gaston County Schools is hosting the South Central All-District Band Clinic at Stuart W. Cramer High School on January 24-25.  

    The top band students from across the Charlotte region will spend time Friday and Saturday preparing music for the concert, which will be held on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. as the culminating activity of the two-day clinic.  The concert is open to the public.

    Gaston County Schools has 23 students among the outstanding musicians who are participating in the all-district band program.  The students will be led by nationally-recognized clinicians, who are considered among the best in the field of music education. 

    The following middle school and high school students from Gaston County Schools were selected for the 2025 all-district band clinic:

    • Iyanna Brianne Flores, clarinet - W.C. Friday Middle School
    • Ishaaq Murphy, trumpet - W.C. Friday Middle School
    • Peilla Nsimundele, clarinet - Belmont Middle School
    • Camila Vargas-Parra, bass clarinet - W.C. Friday Middle School
    • Erick Rodriguez-Hernandez, contrabass clarinet - W.C. Friday Middle School
    • Danika Risner, horn - Cramerton Middle School
    • Cassidy Allen, baritone - Bessemer City Middle School
    • Mackenzie Hart, oboe - East Gaston High School
    • Annabelle Radford, bassoon - Forestview High School
    • Ayden Kisby-Jones, clarinet - Highland School of Technology
    • Abram Comer, trombone - Forestview High School
    • Cyrus Baltimore, tuba - East Gaston High School
    • Ruby Ruiz-Vargas, clarinet - North Gaston High School
    • Anakin Booth, tenor saxophone - South Point High School
    • Zeke Tucker, trumpet - East Gaston High School
    • Copeland Smith, trumpet - Stuart W. Cramer High School
    • Ethan Snell, trumpet - Forestview High School
    • Ford Poag, trumpet - Forestview High School
    • Molly Dillon, trumpet - Stuart W. Cramer High School
    • Miles Funderburk, horn - Ashbrook High School
    • Caiden McDaniel, horn - Forestview High School
    • Alex Cornwell, percussion - Highland School of Technology
    • Akela Taylor, percussion - Highland School of Technology

    Rebecca Clemens, of Margaret B. Pollard Middle School in Chapel Hill, will conduct the middle school concert band, and Ruth Petersen, a retired band director from Cornelius, will lead the middle school symphonic band.

    Carol Brittain Chambers, a composer and owner of Aspenwood Music, LLC in San Antonio, Texas, will conduct the high school band for grades 9-10. Dr. Robert Ambrose, director of bands and professor of music at Georgia State University, will conduct the high school band for grades 11-12.