Mayville Music Department Ends the School Year on a High Note!
By: Sara Lehner
The Mayville High School Music Program cruised into spring with much to celebrate! The Cardinal Singers wrapped up their “Dogfight” show choir season with their final performance at the Schauer Center on April 6th. The event included performances by several solo and ensemble performers, the junior high show choir, Next Edition, and the high school show choir, The Cardinal Singers, as well as the acapella group, Incognito.
The Cardinal Singers performed at six Show Choir competitions this year. Their highest placement was third runner-up at Sparta Burst of Adrenaline. The Show Band placed 3rd at Sparta and our Crew won the Best Crew Award at the Medford Red and White Spotlight Competition. The Cardinal Singers also placed fifth at the New London Singstock Festival. Many of these events recognized individual achievements within the Show Choir Competitions. Students were also offered the ability to compete in Solo or Duet Competitions.
At Sparta, Grace Lehner won first place as Best Soloist in the Solo Competition while Serenity Mahoney placed second. A Showstopper award was presented to Serenity Mahoney at the New London competition. At the Sparta competition, Grace Lehner and Tristin Duley were recognized for their Showstopper performances.
At the Schauer Event in April, several individuals were recognized by their directors and peers. J.D. Cooney, Show Choir Band Director awarded the following honors: MVP, Joel Oechsner; Rising Star, Gavin Staedler; Outstanding Leader, Isabelle Neumeyer; Director’s Award, Henry Shirasaki-Krahn. Outstanding Show Band Peer Awards were given to Emily Derkowski, Senior; Katy Kwan, Sophomore; and Micaiah Twigg, Freshman.
John Dobbratz, Show Choir Director awarded the following honors: MVP, Sawyer Streblow; Rising Star, Tristin Duley; Outstanding Leader, Serenity Mahoney; Director’s Award, Yesenia Torres. Peer Awards were given to Maggie Wolfe, Senior; Hayden Schramek, Junior; Morgan Wege, Sophomore; and Alex Richter, Freshman.
Next Edition is a group of 5-8th graders performing selections from High School Musical the Movie, the musical, and the TV Series! This group is directed by Gabriela Twigg and J.D. Cooney with choreographers Serenity Mahoney, Nakera Davis and Tristin Duley. They competed at 3 events winning top honors at each competition. At New London, they placed second. At Sauk Prairie, they took First Place, Best Vocals, Best Choreography and Best Band. Finally, at Fort Atkinson, they placed second. These Next Edition performers were awarded the following honors at the Schauer Music Finale in April: MVP, Scarlett Binstock; Rising Star, Claire Gunderson; Outstanding Leader, Pearl Kennedy; Director’s Award, Lyla Sterr.
Performing in Vocal or Band, Mayville School District had 71 events participate in the WSMA Solo and Ensemble District Festival held at the St. Lawrence Seminary High School on March 1st. Earlier that week, 9 events were performed in the District Festival at Lomira High School. We had 80 events eligible to qualify for State! Mayville High School: 64 events Mayville Junior high: 16 events
An impressive 56 events scored a rating of 1 or better and 30 of those events earned a 1* advancing them to state at the end of April. Thirty students performed at the State Festival at UW-Oshkosh in April. Of 30 entries, 22 performers scored the highest possible with a 1 rating. The State Festival also recognizes outstanding student performers. Two students were nominated for Exemplary performances, Sawyer Streblow and Serenity Mahoney (Theatre). The Vocal Jazz group was also nominated for their performance. Students who are selected for the award receive a certificate from WSMA in recognition of their outstanding performance at the State Festival. Those awards were presented to Sawyer Streblow and Serenity Mahoney. Congratulations!
Every year the Music Department has the opportunity and privilege to select members of the graduating class for some national recognized awards for schools, as well as school specific awards. Director’s awards were given out to members of both band and choir for their impact in each of those disciplines. For Band, Grace Lehner and Ava Konrad received recognition while Kiah Raddemann and Jessica Reinke received recognition for Choir. Hannah DeBaker was the recipient of the David Faust Award for her embodiment of being true to one’s self and having a profound impact on all within the department. Maggie Wolfe was recognized as the Music Department award recipient for her many contributions to each the band and choir programs for her four years. The nationally recognized awards that are given out at each school across the country were:
Semper Fidelis Award - Sawyer Streblow, Band
Louis Armstrong Jazz Award - Joel Oechsner, Band
John Philip Sousa Award - Isabelle Neumeyer, Band
National Choral Award - Sawyer Streblow, Choir
Fred Warring Award for Chorus - Nakera Davis, Choir
The Music department at Mayville High School also chooses an Outstanding Senior, Hailey Wilson was selected for Band and Grace Lehner was recognized for Choir.
But wait, there’s more! Mayville High School performed the musical Mamma Mia, in December under the direction of John Dobbratz and J.D. Cooney. The show received several Jerry Award nominations gaining recognition for Outstanding Musical, Outstanding Ensemble, Outstanding Direction, Outstanding Choreography, Outstanding Stage Crew, Outstanding Lighting Design, and Outstanding Costumes. Many of our performers were nominated in Lead, Supporting or Spirit roles: Maggie Wolfe, Kiah Raddemann, Lizzy Werner, Natalia Shirasaki-Krahn, Grace Lehner, Jessica Reinke, Tristin Duley, Sawyer Streblow, Hayden Schramek, Joel Oechsner, Serenity Mahoney and Sidney Daley
Of all those amazing nominations, Mayville received the following 2025 Jerry Awards:
Spirit Awards: Serenity Mahoney and Sidney Daley
The Jerry Awards Ceremony takes place at the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison on June 8th. Serenity and Sidney will have the opportunity to be a part of a special performance for all the Spirit Award winners. Both Serenity and Sidney will be able to perform in a medley with other leading performer recipients and are eligible to audition for the Jimmy Awards in New York (think Tony Awards for High School).
Congratulations to all the performers and the Mayville Music Program! Thank you to Mr. Dobbratz, Mr.Cooney and Ms. Twigg. Thank you for your dedication, encouragement and leadership. You’ve given students not just a stage, but a voice. Thank you!