Middle School Band Competition

Yesterday I chaperoned my daughter’s middle school band to a regional competition held at MSU.  My daughter plays the oboe.  I am so glad I had the opportunity to go. 

It was about an hour drive on the school bus to MSU.  The trip was uneventful. We took about 50 people.  We had 21 kids on our bus, the second bus had 22.  Two adults were on each bus.  The kids were well behaved, but it did get a little loud. I had my trusty Kindle so I could read during the ride.  Trying to be helpful on the return trip, I volunteered to take role on my bus, but I only knew four kids. I started reading names on the list and my daughter stood up and said, Dad give it to me.  She read the names, said yes, yes, yes…It went so much faster. 

Much to my surprise the band played only two pieces.  It was a real treat for me to hear my daughter and her friends play. Yes, I go to the concerts but this was different. First, the middle school competed against high school bands. Second, they held their own. 

The process works like this, the band sets up and plays two pieces to three judges. They are then ranked. Next, they go and play a sight piece. I had to ask what that meant.  The band is given sheet music they have never read or seen and must then play it.  I could not go in and listen.

What made this so unique to me is that I rode the bus with the band director. She is a very dedicated musician and teacher.  Before the trip, I admired her. Now, I admire and greatly respect her.  She has expectations for her students and demands that they practice.  She puts in long hours.  When I think about what is right about education, it is that good and skilled people continue to be drawn to teaching. 

Side note: the band teacher asked me to go with the percussion players and wait to be called. The percussion players were separated from the rest of the band for short time.  It never occurred for me to ask why. I knew two of the eight kids. It was a lively bunch.  They seemed excited to compete.  I enjoyed my time with them.  One young man played with his phone the entire time. He had some apps I did not know about. An example is the voice app, you say something into the phone and it is repeated in a different voice.  However, he told me that some days he had to charge his phone every two hours and he had a charger with him. Does that mean chargers are the latest cool accessory?