On Tuesday, March 5th, 2019, eight area high school bands attended the Region VIII Concert Assessment at Van Buren High School.
On Tuesday, March 5th, 2019, eight area high school bands attended the Region VIII Concert Assessment. Those bands are as followed: County Line, Hackett, Charleston, Lavaca, Cedarville, Booneville, Clarksville, and Fort Smith Southside. Assessment was hosted by Van Buren High School at the High School’s Fine Arts Center. This was the first of two assessment dates, the next set of Concert Assessments will take place at Greenwood High School on April 2nd – 5th.
Concert Assessment consists of two parts: prepared music and sight reading. When the band arrives at assessment they go to the warm-up location where they regroup and await their turn on the stage. On stage, the band performs their prepared music while being assessed by three adjudicators. These adjudicators are individuals that are from outside of the region, usually directors from high schools or colleges. After the prepared music portion, the band moves to the sight reading area. There they are given a short piece of music where the students and director look over it for a set time before they have to play it. During this, they are being assessed on how well they perform the piece. Just like Marching Assessment, bands are given a grade by each adjudicator. These grades come out as either 1st division, 2nd division, 3rd division, 4th division, or 5th division.
The first band that performed at Concert Assessment was the County Line High School Band under the direction of Scott Gann. The pieces they selected were:
Fighting Falcon March by Todd Stalter, Queenwood Overture by Anne McGinty, and Conviction by Larry Clark.
This was the first time I had heard the County Line Band and I was really impressed. I hope to hear more of their concerts.
Under the direction by Lucas Davis was the Hackett High School Band. They performed:
Huron Bay March by David Gorham, Air and Dance by John Kinyon, and Modal Song and Dance by Elliot Del Borgo.
For a small school band, I am always impressed with the quality of sound that comes from the Hackett Band.
Next was the Charleston High School Band under the direction of Jessica Holt and Joshua Uhrich. The Charleston Band performed their All-State Honor Band selections. Their selections had improved so much since the preview concert before they performed at All-State.
The last band that I watched was the Lavaca High School Band under the direction of Logan Dooly. They performed the following selections:
Wind Mountian Overture by Steve Hodges, Iroquois Sunrise by Gregory B. Rudgers, and Grand Galop by Johnnie Vinson.
The Lavaca Band did an excellent job performing these pieces. Both the students and the director put their hearts and passion into these songs.
After the Lavaca band,I had to leave due to a family matter. I want to apologize to the Booneville Advance Band students and their directors Brain and Angela Rhodes, to the Clarksville Wind Ensemble students and Director Ralph Brody, and to the Fort Smith Southside Wind Symphony and their Director Sean Carrier. I was really looking forward to hearing your assessment concert and seeing your students’ hard work.
Comments