Frank Deford spent over forty years writing for Sports Illustrated, commentating sporting events regularly on NPR, and has written over eighteen books. On March 13 of 2013 Deford published, “School Bands Should Not Be Entertainment Adjunct for Sports,” on the NPR website. He addresses the middle aged, educated readers of National Public Radio. His motivation for the article comes from the response from the late president of the NCAA, Myles Brand. Deford was flabbergasted by Brand’s remark that students involved in musical extracurricular received genuine scholarships, not only athletes.
Did you know that marching band members spend so much time putting drill on the field for an entire summer break?The Friday nights, and Saturday afternoons we spend on a football field? The energy, sweat, and pride we put onto a football field or parking lot? All this, but unfortunately, marching band is still known for an “elective”.
After the last few touches were done I rushed home to get dressed and drop off the tickets. I arrived downtown around 5:15p.m. As I entered the building all I could think of was “This is the moment that I have wait me entire life for”. I went backstage and everyone lined up just as they had done in rehearsal. A prayer was given and our principal and teachers had a few words.
“If you think you can, you can. If you think you can’t you’re right.” Ever since I was young, that remained one of my father’s favorite quotes to say, if it be a disagreement with a friend, or working on long division problem. While growing up, knowing that my siblings had not done quite well in school, and that was one of my biggest incentives to do well. I had grown up on one of the worst sides of town, living in an apartment complex with one of the worst reputations, living off the checks my father brought in from his back disability, and food stamps.
The Appalachian Symphony Orchestra performed, Celebration and Remembrance. The orchestra opened with Fanfare for the Common Man. Which was conducted by Mr. Smith. It was a great way to start off a World War II and Civil War Memorial concert. It was the opening piece and the orchestra was full of energy, and came out loud and with the bang.
To the average person, the high school marching band is nothing more than a bunch of geeks that play during half time at the football games or monopolize the benches by the band hall, but to me, it is so much more. To me it is a family, a safe haven, a creative outlet, a home. I have been involved in marching band for three years, going on four, and I wouldn 't trade the experience for anything. When I entered high school as a scared and awkward freshman, I immediately had three hundred people that I could rely on. The program quickly became like a second home to me and opened up a whole new path in my life.
1. It was one of her biggest crowd’s since the 1990’s. 2. Many of the audience member’s were fans who gave the performance 10’s 3. The auditorium resounded with they’re bravo’s and more’s 4.
The History of Marching Band There are many things that have influenced my love for music. However, the most influential of them all would have to be marching band. Marching band has been a major part of my life for 10 years. Marching band has been a way that musicians for many years have portrayed music throughout history.
Being in high school, I have always thought that a student should be involved in some sort of activity, whether it be sports, choir, or the gaming club, it’s nice to branch out just a little bit. Well, I did quite a bit of that including golf, band, and theatre. I was on the Girl’s Golf team for two years, and managed the Boy’s team for one. I love to play, and being in a small team was a lot of fun. Their wasn’t girls fighting over who would play varsity or not, but instead pushing each other get their lowest scores.
On the day of Sunday April 10th, I went to a jazz ensemble concert at the Trinity University Ruth Taylor Recital Hall. This hall was much larger than the previous performance I attended. My first impression of the group was that they were relaxed and comfortable. For instance, when the drummer winked the drummer gave when the director explained his switch from the trumpet to drums.
With this hall being a decent size, the music really amplified through the venue. I felt as if I was listening to a recorded version of the performances, that’s how good it was. The audience must have felt the same way I did about the performances because at the end of the concert the musicians received a standing
I attended to a concert performed by the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra on November 13th this year. This concert took place in the Davies Symphony Hall in San Francisco. I chose to attend to this concert because I have never been to a performance by any youth orchestra, I was curious to see how their performance would compare to other orchestras. The first of the three piece that were performed in this concert was Maenads’ Dance, from The Bassarids, composed by Hans Werner Henze. A variety of instruments were used in this piece, including woodwinds, brass, percussion, and strings.
Prior to this, I have never attended a classical concert. I actually had no clue as to what to expect because I could not find a review for UH concerts. The Jazz Orchestra performed in the Moores Opera House on a stage setting similar to that of my middle school band. The band instruments were tiered on the risers while the other performers were simply beside the risers. There were a few noticeable differences such as, the microphones set in the center for soloists, and a marker hanging from above to mark the center of the stage.
In the first, the ‘solo’ group forgot to stand up, and when they did the motion of standing seemed to make them forget their notes to play.. In the second, the ‘solo’ group played so softly that it was difficult to hear them above the rest of the band. Apart from these mishaps, the songs were smoothly played, engaging, and had interesting introductions provided by MrMinke. The transition of bands was bumpy again, but it was shorter than any others yet. In the High School Band, I feel we played better than ever yet.
Music has a powerful impact on people, and can change people in a dramatic way. When people go to concerts, they don’t only listen to the music being played, they also look at what music and songs they are playing or singing, and the order of the songs. The order of the concert has an effect over whether the audience will enjoy the music or not. Above, I listed what I think the order of the songs should be. The concert repertoire should be in this certain order, based on our concert’s intended purpose, what our audience is feeling during the concert, and what Christmas means to each individual in the audience and performing.