On Saturday, September 6, Joseph “JT” DiMaggio, a junior at Juniata Valley High School, placed third in a national music competition at West Virginia University. The “Emerging Artist Competition,” which was organized by the WVU School of Music, included 13 high school juniors and seniors in its final round.

Tyler Roland, the Band Director at JVHS, recalls, “WVU had sent me a flyer and email for the event at the start of last school year.” The grand prize for the first-place student was $700 and a full tuition scholarship. Roland passed the information along to his students, and DiMaggio decided to give it a shot. “Mr. Roland introduced me to this opportunity and also helped choose the two pieces I played for the competition,” he explained.

DiMaggio has been in band since the spring of his seventh-grade year and is currently a drum major in the JV Marching Band. He is primarily a percussionist, but his secondary instrument is the saxophone. At the competition, he played Ghost Gardens by Adam Hopper on marimba and Snare Etude #29 by Mitchell Peters on snare drum.

“I spent time during my lunch last year learning Ghost Gardens and the Snare Etude, and any free time during school to learn Ghost Gardens,” JT recollected. Roland said, “I helped [JT] record and gave him tips throughout the entire process but most of the preparation came from his individual work.”

“There were two rounds. A Preliminary round was submitted via video,” elaborated Roland. DiMaggio, along with 12 other students, got the chance to perform in front of a live audience at Bloch Learning and Performance Hall in the Canady Creative Arts Center on the WVU campus. Simply qualifying for this event is a significant achievement, considering DiMaggio was competing against students from across the country. Roland went on to state that, “Witnessing the performances of other student left me astounded by the high caliber of talent present. These were undoubtedly the most gifted high school performers I have ever seen. It became clear to me how special this opportunity truly was. Typically, such competitions feature students from specialized performing arts charter schools, private institutions, or homeschooled students dedicating significant portions of their day to music, as well as students from large public school districts with bands of 500 or more members. For a student from a school the size of the Valley, simply making it to the finals is a remarkable accomplishment. Additionally, JT was the only student from Pennsylvania selected as a finalist.”

When it came to the competition itself, JT delivered an outstanding performance. As the awards ceremony approached, Roland commented that “JT performed exceptionally well, but so did the other competitors. When he was announced as the third-place winner, it felt monumental.” Achieving this honor is more significant than an athlete qualifying for state competitions; these were some of the best high school musicians in the country, with some finalists traveling over seven hours to attend. Not only did JT fit right in, but he also earned one of the top three prizes.