State of the Band Address 2008 - 2009
Fall 2008
Marching Season
The 2008 marching seasons was a much more successful and enjoyable experience this year. The students were on board from day 1 and ready to make something great happen. I should boast a little that the Wilkes Central Marching Eagles are quickly gaining a reputation throughout the district as a band you “don’t want to compete against.” The numbers and quality were up tremendously, and the new uniforms added a revived sense of pride in the band. The show was also originally written by myself for the band and the colorguard work by Mrs. Coffey, which helped our scores reach new highs. A re-cap of how we placed is listed below.
Ashe County High School Mt. Airy High School West Stokes Newton-Conover
1st Place Marching 1st Place Marching 2nd Place Percussion 1st Hornline
1st Place Music 1st Place Music 2nd Place Drum Major 1st Drum Major
1st Place General Effect 1st Place General Effect Excellent Rating 1st Colorguard
1st Place Percussion 1st Place Colorguard 1st Percussion
1st Place Drum Major 1st Place Percussion 1st Band Class A
1st Place Band Class AA 1st Place Drum Major Superior Rating
Superior Rating 1st Place Band Class A
Band of the Day Class A/AA Superior Rating
Recruitment
The tour of the feeder schools went fantastic this year. We were able to perform at every school that feeds into WCHS (including Boomer-Ferguson, which was missed the previous year). Thank you to all who helped make the tour a successful and enjoyable experience this year.
Holiday Concert
The CWMS/WCHS Holiday Concert went very well. All the students performed at their best level and had a great time. Thank you to all who helped make the event successful.
Student Staff 2009
This year I had interviews for student staff positions for the next year and auditions for drum major. The 2009 student staff is listed below.
Kailee Hamby – Woodwind Captain
Reeve Aguayo – High Brass Captain
Andrew Hendricks – Low Brass Captain
Sarah McCabe – Pit Percussion Captain
Miles Hubbard – Drumline Captain
Gunnar Hunsberger – Drum Major
Jamie Griffith – Asst. Drum Major
Colorguard Captain – TBA
Band Banquet 2008-2009
The banquet was again a great success this year and I thank everyone who helped make it possible. A special congratulations to Sarah Hubbard and David Brooks for receiving the National Student in Marching Band Award, the most prestigious of the Fall Semester awards.
Band Camp 2009
Band Camp 2009 will be Aug. 10th – 14th at Central Wilkes Middle School. The show is TBA.
Spring Semester
Central Wilkes Middle School
2008 2007
6th Graders: 75 6th Graders: 40
7th Graders: 38 7th Graders: 16
8th Graders: 16 8th Graders: 19
High School Symphonic: 41 High School Symphonic: 52
I am happy to announce that 6th grade band enrollment is up substantially from previous years. This is largely due to the success of the band program, revived reputation, and a direct result of the 2007 Feeder School tour.
The graph below indicates where the CWMS band enrollment has been in previous years as well as projected growth of the band program. (The projected growth is under the assumption that each beginning band class is 60 children, and approximately 10% drop after each year).
The band program MUST be built at the middle school, and the middle school MUST be its own strong, independent band program separate from the high school. Many of you know that I concentrate most of my efforts to the middle school for this reason (except during marching season).
CWMS PTSO
We all need to give a huge thanks to the CWMS PTSO for purchasing a brand new Jupiter bass clarinet for the CWMS band program. CWMS in generally has worked very hard to promote the success of the band program on their level.
WCHS Symphonic Band
The Symphonic Band this year is roughly the same size as the marching band (minus the colorguard). Most students who were in marching band are also participating in Spring semester, with the exception of a few who have class conflicts. I always highly encourage students to do both semesters of band.
The band’s quality is much higher this year than the previous year. This is largely due to the fact that most of the concert band students were in band the previous semester whereas last year there was a Spring semester growth of about 30% of students who had not been playing or practicing the previous semester.
I am also charging a $20 band fee that pays strictly for music and percussion mallets. Often times a piece of high school band literature can cost anywhere from $100 - $200. Though I have introduced this new fee, I am asking students to help pick their Pops Concert Music (May movie music concert) so they can feel their money is well spent.
I am also having students audition for chair placement. According to sources, this generation of high school band students at Wilkes Central have never auditioned for placement, but rather assumed chair placement through seniority. I believe that chair placement auditions are an essential part of practice motivation and performance, and something that almost all concert bands due.
Band Concerts:
February 24th - Wilkes County All-County Band
Under the direction of Bob Buckner, Western Carolina University Director of Athletic Bands
John A. Walker Center, 7pm
March 17th – Central Wilkes Middle School Jazz Band/Central Wilkes Middle School 7th and 8th Concert Band, Wilkes Central High School Symphonic Band
Central Wilkes Middle School Cafeteria, 7pm
Featuring many concert band standards and classics.
May 2nd – Central Wilkes Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Concert Band Carowinds performance
All day
May 5th - Central Wilkes Middle School 7th and 8th Grade Concert Band PTSO Performance
CWMS Gym, 7pm
May 14th – Central Wilkes Middle School 6th Grade Beginning Band and Central Wilkes Middle School 7th and 8th Concert Band
Central Wilkes Middle School Cafeteria, 7pm
May 19th – Wilkes Central High School Symphonic Band Pops Concert
Stone Center, 7pm
Featuring themes from popular culture and movies.
Awards will be presented including outstanding Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior, as well as the highly prestigious John Philip Sousa Award.
All-District
I took seven band members (4 high school and 3 middle school) students to audition for All-District. This is the 2nd year I have taken high school students and the first time any students from CWMS attended. The students I took were Booth Gray, David Brooks, Daniel Brooks, Sarah Hubbard, Briana Eilert, Sam Freeman, and James Patton. I personally selected these students based on ability and commitment. All students represented our schools well.
Briana Eilert made the All-District Middle School Concert Band, becoming the first student to ever make the band from CWMS, and was the only student in Wilkes County to make the band.
All-County Band
All County Band takes place over the course of two days. There is a rehearsal Monday night, February 23rd at the John A. Walker Center from 6 – 8pm, a rehearsal on Tuesday the 24th from 8:30am – 2:30pm, and the performance is Tuesday night at 7pm. Students will wear “concert black” (standard concert dress code at CWMS and WCHS). Students were selected based on ability, grade level, and instrumentation needs. Students must also provide their own transportation.