MMA Cadets Earn Medals at 46th Military School Band & Choir Festival 

Missouri Military Academy (MMA) band and choir competed in the 46^th Military School Band & Choir Festival, held February 16-18 at Virginia Military Institute. Accompanied by Pipe Major Stuart Mackenzie, Choir Director Ted Brauker, Band Director Brad Smith and Activities Director Elliot Goodwin, the cadets performed well, earning several medals for their performances. 

“Congratulations to all of our band, choir and bagpipe cadets who took part in the festival,” Stuart Mackenzie says. “They did a fantastic job and represented MMA outstandingly with professionalism and hard work.”

The Military School Band & Choir Festival is a national event that draws schools and colleges from across the United States. The weekend included a concert band, a festival choir and a clinic for military high school and college drum majors. Cadets enjoyed a performance from military musicians, competed against their peers and performed in a concert. 

The following cadets received special awards and recognition for their exceptional performances at the festival: 

• Cadet Justyn Daigle (Moberly, Missouri) placed second in the drum major competition. 
• Cadet Mason Brooks (Henrietta, Texas) earned a gold medal for outstanding piper.
• Cadet Miles Matthews (Fairfield Bay, Arkansas) earned a silver medal for bass clarinet, first chair. 
• Cadet Landon Meyer (Moberly, Missouri) earned a silver medal for bass trombone, first chair.
• Cadet River Punab-Mitchell (Hollister, Missouri) earned a silver medal as bass section leader. 
• Cadet Sean Mumm (Des Moines, Iowa) ranked 11^th out of 23 trumpets. 

Left to right: Cadet Matthews, Cadet Meyer, Cadet Brooks and Cadet Punab-Mitchell.

Below is the list of cadets who participated in the festival:

Band

• Cadet Landon Meyer ’24, bass trombone (Moberly, Missouri)
• Cadet Miles Matthews ’25, clarinet (Fairfield Bay, Arkansas)
• Cadet Lucas Keen '26, saxophone (Lebanon, Missouri)
• Cadet Hayden James ’27, clarinet (Kansas City, Missouri)
• Cadet Adam Keen '27, trombone (Lebanon, Missouri)
• Cadet Sean Mumm ’27, trumpet (Des Moines, Iowa) 

 Drum Major

• Cadet Justyn Daigle ’24 (Moberly, Missouri)

Choir

• Cadet Ian Carlson ’24, bass (Urbandale, Iowa)
• Cadet River Punab-Mitchell ’26, bass (Hollister, Missouri)
• Cadet Jacob Stallone ’26, bass (Lima, Ohio)
• Cadet Isaac Krentz ’26, tenor (Berlin, Wisconsin)

Bagpipes

• Cadet Mason Brooks ’25 (Henrietta, Texas)
• Cadet Trey Rudolph ’25 (Kansas City, Missouri
• Cadet Adam Swenson ’25 (Youngstown, New York)

About the Military School Band & Choir Festival 

The Military School Band & Choir Festival was founded in 1968 by Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Virginia, as the Virginia Military School League Band Workshop. It was under the lead of Ronald L. Horton, then-bandmaster at Hargrave Military Academy who later worked at Fork Union Military Academy. After several years of dormancy, it was reorganized in 1977 into the Southeastern Military School Band Festival. An expansion to include military schools outside of the region was completed, and in 1984, the festival became known as the Military School Band Festival (MSBF).