Middle School girls at McGehee are offered a unique opportunity in instrumental music through the Orff Ensemble. The Orff Ensemble is a select instrumental ensemble formed to help bring accessible instrumental music into the music classroom. Xylophones, marimbas and world percussion instruments are used -- the marimbas were actually constructed by our seventh graders during their studies of acoustics in general music.
Orff Ensemble is the premier instrumental ensemble for Middle School. Students audition at the end of sixth grade and participate for the following two years. Most recently the Orff Ensemble was featured at the LMEA District VI Honor Chorus Concert. Orff performs for school wide community events and they are looking forward to branching out into the community. Playing the Kids Tent at the Voodoo Festival is sure to be one of the year's highlights.
The Orff Ensemble is conducted by McGehee Music Department Chair Jessica Holl. Jessica received her Master's degree from University of North Carolina Greensboro (UNCG) in Music Education and her Bachelor's degree from Ithaca College. She has worked at McGehee for 6 years and since Jessica's arrival, McGehee has progressed from primarily a choral program to a broad spectrum of musical genres—recorder, piano, flute, strings, Orff, as well as musical theater and choir are now on the menu of the Music Department.
