Band members excel at competition

by Sofia Riba and Maria Pablo,  highlights, News, March 2009

For the first time in eleven years the Symphonic Band received a straight superior ranking for their performance at the District 16 Concert Band Music Performance Assessment. This achievement has allowed them to proceed to the State level for Concert Band Assessment on April 20^th. The event was held at Ronald Reagan High School, where over twenty other school bands performed in front of a panel of three judges. They assessed the band on various categories such as musicianship, which included musical phrasing and dynamic range, to technique where things such as note accuracy where judged. Jeff Miller, band director, attributes the win to pure hard work.

“We practice everyday, and work so hard. We definitely got what we worked for,” agrees Evan Duffy, junior.

The Florida Bandmasters Association (more commonly known as the FBA) was founded in 1936. It was the very first institution of higher learning to further the cause of band music in high schools in Florida. Eventually, many more bandmasters and their participants were asked for input, and thus the birth of the organization.

To be able to compete, the band department has certain audition requirements and prerequisites that every band member must follow. Students had to audition for a spot at the Music Performance Assessment in mid January. Even though the competition is open to high school band members, only players in higher level classes and with sufficient experience could participate in the auditions and competition.

“Right after we passed the audition, we went in to full competition mode. We practiced every day after school from 3 to 4:30, and sometimes even later if we had a guest speaker or composer visiting us,” added sophomore Daniel Dodge.

The excitement of band members was evident once they acquired a seat for the district evaluation.

“It was hard to get it [the spot] and those who got it went crazy!” exclaimed Favio Vizcaya, sophomore.

Band directors and conductors are required to select at least one music piece from the FBA Concert Music List in order to perform.

The day of the evaluation band members arrived at Ronald Reagan High School and were given time for a last minute practice and warm up. After, they performed their three pieces, among them, “Eulogy for a Young American” in front of the panel of judges. Finally, they were evaluated on their sight reading skills. In the sight reading evaluation the students were given two pieces, a march and an overture, which they practiced for a couple of minutes with their director before performing it for the judges. Many expected the sight reading to be very challenging.

“I remember thinking, ‘Wow, we’re in for it’. We thought it was going to be the hardest thing ever, but it actually turned out to be easy,” commented Manuel Hartman, sophomore.

Band members are very happy and proud of their results. “There is nothing more satisfying than knowing we made history,” concluded Katie Bermudez, senior.