Area bands breezed through districts this week, with four high schools Chandler, Prague, Stroud and North Rock Creek -- heading to state.
TheChandlerWindSymphony hopes to get a threepeat sweepstakes award this year. In order to win the prestigious award, a band must receive superior ratings at regional marching band, districts and state. So far, Chandler has superiors (1s) across the board.
Director Zac Fisher, who is in his first year at the school, said the band played really well.
“It’s a difficult program, especially for a smaller school, and they’re knocking it out of the park. So I’m very, very happy with how they performed,” he said.
They played “Songs of Old Kentucky” by Karrick and“La Fiera Asturiana”by Michele Fernandez. Fisher said “La Fiera” is a fun, new piece.When he can, he tries to highlight composers who are women or from underrepresented groups. They even had Fernandez in rehearsal via Zoom to discuss the program.
“She just talked us through the piece and why she wrote it and what it means to her. I think I did a lot for helping me and helping the kids decide how we were going to approach it and how we were going to shape it. That was a really cool experience,” he said.
Prague High School is heading to state for the first time in a while. Firstyear band director Trevor Harrold said it feels good. There are a lot of things that have been going well for the year and many learning opportunities for both the students and himself.
“If you’d asked me back inAugust if I thought this is where we would be, I guess, it would just stun me,” he said. “They (the students) are incredibly excited, and it’s a big deal because they get to wear their uniforms. That was one of the big things they petitioned for.”
The band played “Alamo March” by Carl King and arranged by James Swearingen and “Connemara Sketches” by Chester Osbourne, which Harrold said was a bold choice. He heard from other directors that they probably wouldn’t have chosen the sam epiece.
“I knew that’d be a challenge to go into it, but I really love the composition. I was thinking about our kids and what instruments we have in the room, and it seemed like a really good fit. I guess it was, because they ended up playing it really well,” he said.
StroudHighSchoolBand is heading to back to state for the second time. Director Kevin Couch said he is really pleased and that they did an outstanding job. He added that the band continues to move the bar and push for higher goals. They performed a Carl King march along with “Into the Light” by David Shaffer.
“As a director, you kind of have to know the strengths and weaknesses of your group. And you try and pick material that’s going to highlight those strengths,” he said. He added that the students are really excited and have been working hard.
The North Rock Creek Symphonic Band is going for, hopefully, their second sweepstakes in a row. This is their second year competing at state.
Husband-wife team David and Heather Bellows are also in their first year directing the band. David said one of the highlights in playing at districts was being able to perform on an actual stage, something they don’t have at NRC High School.
“It was just nice to be able to hear the band in a different situation,” he said. “And being able to pull off straight superior ratings was really cool. That was the highlight.And then just doing well in the sight reading room, which is hard to do.”
They performed “Appalachian Morning” by Robert Sheldon and“Urban Dances” by Eric Morales. David said it was because they wanted to have a slow, lyrical piece and then a contrasting style that was more active and fast-paced.
“We’re so proud of our students and just really thrilled about it,” Heather said. She added that there’s still a lot of practice ahead. “It’s really going to be focusing on those details, all those little tiny details that are so important to make it sound polished and perform at that level.”
The OSSAA State Concert Band Contest is set to take place from April 1 to 4. All four bands are set to compete at East Central University in Ada as 3A and 4A. The exact dates will be announced later.