Missouri Military Academy Cadets Earn Top Honors at 2025 National Military School Band & Choir Festival

Missouri Military (MMA) Academy cadets competed at the 2025 National Military School Band and Choir Festival held at Army and Navy Academy in Carlsbad, CA, on Feb. 22 and 23, earning several first-place honors and two of the four gold medals awarded at the festival. The Military School Band & Choir Festival is a national annual event, and MMA competed against approximately 120 cadets from eight schools at this year’s competition. 

Watch a recording of the festival concert.

MMA honors earned include the following:

• Cadet Kruze Hagan earned a gold medal as the National Military Schools drum major competition winner.
• Cadet Adam Swenson was named the best piper, earning a gold medal.
• Cadet Miles Matthews earned the prestigious 1st chair and achieved the highest score for bass clarinet. 
• Cadet Gunnar Ward secured the 1st chair with the highest score in mallet precision.
• Cadets Benjamin Bryant and River Punab-Mitchell secured 2nd place in the bass and tenor sections, respectively.
• Cadet Jacob Stallone placed 3rd in the tenor section and earned recognition as the only featured choir soloist.
• MMA also earned third place for overall best-prepared school.

Pipe Major Mackenzie, MMA band director Brad Smith, choir director Ted Brauker, and Activities & Recreation Specialist Elliot Goodwin accompanied the cadets on the trip.