Today the United States Navy Rock Band played a show at WAHS!!  It was amazing!!  They covered hits from Jimmy Hendrix, Journey, Cake, Weezer, & so much more.  They made all the kids, even the ones with no musical experience, feel comfortable as they danced and "JUMP"ed across the stage.  At the end our band students had over an hour to ask questions about being in one of the Navy Bands, auditioning requirements, and general questions about the performers.

A GREAT EXPERIENCE!!

posted 4/13/2010 2:34 PM | comment | view comments (0)

Well, I'm finally catching up on this thing!!  It's been a LOOOOONG two weeks for Me.  I'll start off with the SCBDA Winter Ensemble Championships.  It was, by far, the most beautiful day we've had for a winter ensemble contest...or any contest for that matter.  I actually got a little burned.  The Beginner Guard had their best run of the season and ended up placing 3rd in their class.  The advanced guard had a few bobbles in their show, but still had a decent run and placed 3rd in their class.  The Drumline also had some bobbles in their show, but were still able to place 2nd in their class.  I could definitely tell that the season was wearing on the kids and wearing on the directors as well, but we got through the day alive!

Last week was Concert Festival.  Of course WAHS hosted concert festival Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and I was the chairman.  We had 35 bands perform here over those three days!!  Luckily, everything ran relatively smoothly.  Our Symphonic Band received a rating of Excellent at the Festival.  I've discovered that running a concert festival isn't all that hard, but fatiguing.  At the end of each of the three days I was WORE OUT!!  I felt like I had walked a mini marathon each day, but I guess I DO need the exercise.  All-in-all Concert Festival was a great success.  I've received many good comments about how everything went and have had reports of great experiences.

This past weekend was the CWEA Championships at Winthrop Coliseum in Rock Hill, SC.  I left Friday after school for Charlotte to stay with my best friend.  Mr. Shealy met the Advanced Guard and the Drumline on Saturday morning and then headed up.  Saturday was another gorgeous DAY!!  The drumline was first and had a great performance, but we had to quickly disassemble the tents in order to get out of the stadium.  The Guard had some shakes in their runthrough again, but were still very entertaining.  The students and Mr. Shealy packed up and left for home after the Winterguard was finished performing and I stayed for awards, which didn't start until 10:35pm!!!  I'm happy to report that the Drumline took home the Silver Medal!!

Two long weeks and I'm ready for SPRING BREAK!!  I know the kids are too.  I hope to return to school after the break re-energized and ready to finish the year with a bang!!

posted 3/31/2010 7:03 AM | comment | view comments (0)

On Thursday, March 11th, the WAHS Jazz Band & Winter Drum Line took a recruiting trip to C.E. Williams Middle School in West Ashley.  It was a rainy and muddy day.  Luckily, I was able to convince Roy to pull the semi trailor for us, so we didn't have to worry about getting the instruments wet and damaged.  We met during 2nd block, loaded the truck, got on the bus and headed on to C.E.  Roy was able to back the semi right up to the entrance door, which made it even easier to get things unloaded without ruining equipment.  We ended up setting up in the cafeteria and were able to get a little practice time before the entire 8th grade class came in.  The 8th graders seemed impress by both ensembles and asked a TON of questions after we were finished.  I just hope we can get all of there schedules taken care of for next year.  This year's process is a little confusing to all of us, but hopefully the trip helped us gain some numbers.  We will be taking the winter guard to the other middle schools sometime in April after things (concert festival & winter championships) settle down a bit.

posted 3/16/2010 9:36 AM | comment | view comments (0)

Yesterday, Sunday 3/7, I was able to attend the Charleston Wind Ensemble Concert conducted by Major Herbert L. Day.  The Charleston Wind Ensemble is comprised of members of the Charleston Community Band, Low Country Winds, the Charleston Community Orchestra, as well as other smaller musical groups in the Charleston area.  The musicians range from professionals to semi-professionals to amateurs and are all serious instrumentalists committed to studying the most difficult and rewarding repertoire in the band literature.

It was a pleasure to listen to this group perform.  I'm lucky enough to know quite a few of the performers in this band, so it was great to see them play their primary instruments.  The band played a hefty program of enjoyable music including:

"Nobles of the Mystic Shrine", John Philip Sousa

"Overture to "Candide", Leonard Bernstein

"A Hymn for the Lost and the Living", Eric Ewazen

"Four Scottish Dances", Malcolm Arnold

"Acrostic Song", David Dei Tredici

"Ride", Samuel R. Hazo (My favorite...I love Hazo's music!)

"By Lock and Mountain, Robert W. Smith

"Esprit De Corps", Robert Jager

"Olympia Hippodrome March", R. Alexander

Needless to say, if you missed the concert, you missed a good one!

posted 3/8/2010 8:19 AM | comment | view comments (0)

This past weekend we had a Winter Ensemble Contest at Hanahan.  It was great not having to travel far to perform.  I think it maybe took us fifteen minutes to arrive at Hanahan from WAHS.  However, Mr. Lakin didn't bring his "walking' shoes".  Let's just say, from where our equipment truck was parked to where we performed was a good little walk.  The walk itself wasn't long, but the HILLS made it seem too long.  I needed the exercise anyway.

The Beginning Guard, in my opinion, had the best run of the season.  Those girls did very well and I know Mr. Shealy was proud.  They took 4th place with a score of 69.20. 

The Drumline also had their best run so far and the judges had some great comments and suggestions to help us get even better.  It was hard not to laugh at all the intriguing looks we were getting while walking from the truck to warm-up.  I actually think seeing us before we performed INCREASED the size of our audience because people wanted to know why we were dressed the way we were.  The drumline took first place with a score of 77.45.

The Advanced Guard had to wait ALL day to perform.  I didn't know how they would fair with the long wait time.  Unfortunately, I didn't get to see them perform, but Mr. Shealy said that they were better than the last contest, but he didn't feel like they had a great run.  They took 4th place with a score of 59.80.

With two more competitions left in the season we're really starting to feel the pressure.  We still have a lot of work to do with all three ensembles.  They've been working hard up until this point and I just hope they can keep pushing through for a couple of more weeks.

Our next show is the SCBDA Winter Ensemble Championships at Goose Creek High School on March 20th.  We need all the support we can get, so I'm challenging ALL parents, Students, Administrators, Teachers, and Alumni to make their presence known that weekend.

See you there!

posted 3/8/2010 8:07 AM | comment | view comments (0)

All I can say is SIMPLY AMAZING!!  The United States Navy Band was flawless today.  Ok, so I know it probably wasn't flawless, but I couldn't tell.  I was in AWE at the sounds they were making on stage.  Unfortunately, I was only able to sit out in the audience for their last song, but I still enjoyed their music from back stage.  In fact, I was standing right behind the Tubas and the French Horns and under the stage shell.  The sound kept thumping me in the chest.

I think the most impressive aspect of the performance was the precision they displayed.  EVERYTHING was crisp and clear and their dynamic levels extended from the highest high to the lowest low while their facial expressions were unchanging making what they were doing seemingly effortless. 

I could go on and on.  As you can tell, it's been a while since I've seen a professional group of that caliber.  I wish I could spend every school day listening to them!  I hope this performance motivates our students to try their very best and set some goals for themselves.

Check out the slide show page for some pictures.

Have a great evening!

posted 3/4/2010 2:33 PM | comment | view comments (0)

It's always amazing how much a pair of "fresh ears" can help out.  "Fresh Ears" in the band world, refers to a person that hasn't heard your band play the same songs over and over again.  This person steps in and listens to the whole song for the first time and then gives critique.  They always hear mistakes or ways to improve your band that you just don't hear or think about because you've heard it over and over.  It's like being aroudn someone everyday that has lost weight...you don't really notice the weight loss as oppose to someone you haven't seen in a while that has lost weight.  It's the first thing you notice!

I'm pleased that we've had this opportunity to have Major Day here today.  However, having him here has made Mr. Shealy and I more aware of how much work still needs to be done before we're ready for concert festival.

WE CAN DO IT!

posted 3/2/2010 9:25 AM | comment | view comments (0)

Good morning,

I'm excited to report that we're having a clinic with Major Herb Day as of 7:30am this morning.  We were lucky enough to pull all of our members out of 1st and 2nd periods this morning so we could all rehearse together for the first time on this music.  As expected, it's a little rough right now, but we still have a few weeks to perfect.  Right now Mr. Day is working on "Variants", Mr. Shealy's selection. 

"Variants" by Jack Bullock is extremely rythmic and fast, so He is working on timing issues and tempo mostly.  It's also harder to balance and blend the different sounds in the band when playing a faster song, so He is slowing the song down to test balance and dynamic levels.

Everyone seems a little tired this morning, but hopefully as the day rolls on we will wake up! 

Next Mr. Day will work on my piece, "Voices of the Sky" by Samuel R. Hazo.  This piece is contrasting to "Variants" being that it is super lyrical and full of dynamic "ups" and "downs".  I can't wait to hear what Major Day has to say!

I'll wrap up the day in another blog around lunch.  Until then check out some pictures I've taken in the slideshow section of the site. 

posted 3/2/2010 8:09 AM | comment | view comments (0)