ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
USD 480 has many talented young musicians throughout the buildings’ music programs and recently, many of those young musicians had the chance to audition for upcoming honor band events.
Eisenhower Middle School band director Josiah Smiddy and Seymour Rogers Middle School band director Noel Delgado said they were very proud of the representation from their schools.
“The representation from the Eisenhower Middle School Warrior Band has been spectacular. It's been a tough year in terms of competition because there are many talented young musicians at other schools in the area, and they're auditioning just like we are,” Smiddy said. “It was some stiffer competition than what we've dealt with previously, but we managed to get several students onto the band rosters. Our Warrior Band alone had 38 students audition for the Five State Honor Band and five who auditioned for the Kansas John Philip Sousa Honor Band. Following all of that, 25 students were recognized with the Five State Honor Band and two students were recognized at the Kansas John Philip Sousa Honor Band. Overall, we were really proud, and it's a great validation of the work we've been doing in class. I can't make the students want to participate in these things – I can provide some inspiration and motivation and encouragement, but at the end of the day, they're the ones who have to put in the work, and it has to be their decision. At this point, these children are developing not just as students but also as musicians, and they're becoming more confident in their skills and playing ability, which is exactly what we want to see.”
“I was really happy with the representation from the Seymour Rogers Apache Band – out of the 29 students who auditioned, 15 ended up being selected,” Delgado said. “I was really excited because all of the students who auditioned had worked so, so hard, and we'd been working on the materials and everything for several weeks already.”
Discussions about the auditions have been going on with the students for a while now, the directors said.
“Every year, those discussions start even before enrollment. Every year around February, we have the Warrior Band visit with the 5th graders at all the elementary schools in town, and during that visit, we put on a little performance and talk about all the different opportunities they could have while participating in the band program, whether they go to Eisenhower Middle School or Seymour Rogers Middle School,” Smiddy said. “We also talk about how whether they're a member of the Warrior Band or the Apache Band, they'll have the opportunity to compete for seats with these bands. We also talk about large ensemble competitions and small ensemble competitions and how band can be just as much of a sport as, say, volleyball or cross country. It's about a month before the audition due dates when we start really working on the audition materials and getting all of that right so they have the best chance possible to get chosen, so it's really an ongoing thing. There are just so many opportunities the students have while being in band, and we want all the students to know band and music are options for them in terms of extracurricular activities. When it comes to the auditions, the students have certain selections they have to play, along with scales. With the John Phillip Souza Band and SWKMEA Honor Band, those are recorded auditions, while the Five State Honor Band auditions are live before a judging panel. It's usually about a month afterward when the students will get the results and figure out when and where everything is, and then everyone comes together for a few days of rehearsal, which concludes with a big concert featuring the music they work on. It's really neat seeing the students in that setting because they get to work with seasoned professionals as clinicians, and I'm friends with a lot of those guys.”
“It was a couple months ago when I explained the audition process and everything else to my students, and that's also when I'd started handing out the music and other materials, and I'd also provided some reference materials about how everything should sound. But we didn't really get into all of that until a few weeks ago,” Delgado said.
Smiddy and Delgado said they are very proud of their students’ work.
“I'm really proud of how everything has gone so far. The SWKMEA clinic and concert happened recently, the Five State Honor Band will have its clinic and concert in December down in Guymon, Okla., and the John Phillip Souza clinic and concert will be happening in January at the University of Kansas in Lawrence,” Smiddy said. “It's great seeing how these students have worked so hard, and it's also a learning experience for them being around other students who are just as talented as they are and went through the exact same process they did. There's really nothing like it for them, and it's great seeing them interact with the clinicians because it also gives me some ideas of how to work with my groups and how to get the best performances possible out of them. It's really fun to see all of that and then hear from the students what they enjoyed and how tired they were at the end of the day and everything else.”
“For those who did actually get a chair, they were really excited when all those results got posted. As soon as the students saw one of the judges step out into the hall to post that list, they were all clamoring toward it so they could see if they got picked or not,” Delgado said. “The students who got a chair were really excited, and the students who didn't get picked were a little disappointed, but I'm so proud of them for auditioning and going through that process and dipping their toes in that pond, so to speak. These events are really fun because the students get to meet some of their peers from surrounding schools who are just as talented as they are, and they also get to work with some really great clinicians. The competitive aspect is also always good, and doing these types of events just gives them that energy and desire to improve as a musician. All the students were happy to be able to go on the trip, and they were happy to have this type of opportunity – in fact, all of our clarinet auditioners got in, and they were so psyched to have that happen. I did have a few of them tell me they were happy the judges were actually behind a panel and they didn't have to face them since they were already kind of nervous. Overall, I think a lot of them are excited to do this again next year.”
And both bands will certainly not be slowing down anytime soon in terms of work, the directors agreed.
“We've got a full schedule of performances and competitions, including the Downtown Christmas Parade, the International Pancake Day Parade, and the LaCrosse Music Festival, where the Intermediate and Advanced Bands will compete in Large Ensemble competition along with several Small Ensemble competitors,” Smiddy said. “We are definitely going to be out and about in town.”
“At the moment, we're working a lot on reinforcing our sight-reading skills, and for my beginner students, I'm teaching them new notes and more of that musical vocabulary,” Delgado said. “We're also focusing a lot on our café at the school, which is open to students and staff who want to purchase drinks and other goodies. The students who work there, they love it and love having that service for everyone. My beginner students are super talented and are all about learning new things, and they always enjoy being in band class. I'm really happy with how visible the Seymour Rogers Middle School Apache Band has been these past few months, we've gotten a lot of support from the community and the band parents. I want to show them off even more as time goes on, and I have to thank the other band teachers in the district because I've learned a lot from them in my time working here so far.”
