As many already know from my excessive social media sharing, our 15YO high-school sophomore, Bailey, was awarded a chair in the wind ensemble in the Region 9 (Texas) band. (This was following two rounds of Region Band auditions.)
Last Friday night they had a three hour practice, followed by 8+ hours on Saturday. Aftter just that practice, the band had a concert last Saturday night. I'm not sure I can adequately express how proud we were of Bailey - and of his bandmates here. They learned these five songs in just a few hours of practice, then played a concert at Klein Forest High School.
The band performed under the direction of Richard Floyd, in his 53rd year of music direction, and who is currently the director of the Austin Symphonic Band.
The first piece they played was This Broad Earth by Steven Bryant (4:47 video):
Then Mr. Floyd spoke for a few minutes (2:58):
The next piece was Sleep, by Eric Whitacre (4:51):
Then the band played Dancing on Water, by Frank Ticheli (8:57). This was a piece Bailey really enjoyed learning and playing.
Then the band played a set from Leonard Bernstein (and other composers, 4:27):
They closed with a song called Zing by Scott McAllister (6:06):
John P. Needham
Spring, TX
December 13, 2016
6:06AM