While the school year hasn’t quite ended, local high school bands have ended their competition seasons on high notes. The bands from Chandler, North Rock Creek, Stroud and Prague all competed in the OSSAA State competition last week. Chandler and North Rock Creek manage to snag the coveted sweepstakes awards, while Stroud earned superior ratings and Prague earned good ratings.
This was director Zachary Fisher’s first year at Chandler High School and he said he was relieved to continue the band’s sweepstakes tradition. This is the third year in a row the band has received it.
To receive a sweepstakes award, a band must earn superior ratings in the marching band competition in the fall, as well as qualify for state with superior ratings and earn superior ratings in both performance and sight reading at state.
“But at the end of the day... I was really happy just that, you know, I knew that they played well enough in the moment on the stage when we walked off. I knew that it was good enough,” he said. “So I just was really glad and pleased that they were recognized for all the work that they’ve done and for the caliber of run they had that morning.”
The choir from Chandler also competed at state last week and brought home a sweepstakes award.
This was the second year the band at North Rock Creek brought home the sweepstakes award, according to band directors David and Heather Bellows. They said the students were excited about the results.
“Everyone was extremely excited because when we arrived… it looked like judging was pretty hard,” Heather said. “It was nice to be able to pull that off and they played remarkably well.”
She continued that what helped in sight reading was they got into a good routine. They practiced using pieces from past competitions, as well as used sight reading method books. Ending the season on a strong point has the band and directors excited about the possibilities for next year.
This was the second year for the Stroud High School band to make it to state. It was the first year they received superior ratings in performance. They received excellent ratings in sight reading.
“For a young group of kids… they’re growing and getting better,” Director Kevin Couch said. “Sight reading is a bit stressful.
“We got excellent ratings in sight reading, which is, again, an improvement over last year. And you know, they’re still growing and learning and trying to figure out the process. But it’s getting tremendously better.”
Couch said he starts training his students from beginning band in lower grades to prepare them for when they reach the high school band.
While the Prague High School band received 3s (good) ratings on stage and in sight reading, Director Trevor Harrold said they’ve still make significant improvement this year.
“They were a little upset, you know. It can be a little upsetting, but I think that after their initial upset, they understood. I think they’re aware that we’re in a rebuild phase,” he said.
He added that their numbers are as low as they’ve gotten and they’re only going to go up from here. The band got their hopes up because they’ve worked hard and improved a lot over the year - his first as director. He said they sound better and their morale is a lot better.
“We’re starting to think like a group and like a team instead of individuals. And there are so many things that are going well. And I think that because of that, our expectations were a little higher for ourselves because we’ve worked hard, but this is a good reminder that working hard alone does not produce success. It has to be many factors,” he said.