UHS All District Band
On February 5, five bands from around the school district came to the Urbana Middle School to perform for family and friends. The bands that played were the fifth grade beginners, the sixth grade intermediate, the seventh and eighth grade band, the UHS Symphonic Band, and the UHS Wind Symphony. This is the fourth year that the district has been doing this festival, and it has been very successful. This big concert really lets the parents see how the students develop through the years in band and in the students’ musical talents.
Many thought that the concert on Monday night was, perhaps one of the best performances of all the years. “This year was one of the best I’ve played in because on the last song we were all together and it sounded pretty cool,” says Emmah King, a Senior flutist in the Wind Symphony. The last song she mentions, is a traditional finale of the concert where all the bands together play an arrangement of Ode to Joy. It is usually pretty shaky, for the bands do not get to rehearse it beforehand and getting over 100 students ranging from ages 10-18 can be a bit difficult. But this year it went really well. “There was no point in the song where I thought we were going to lose it,” says UHS band conductor, Darren Hicks.
How did some of the other students in the concert and the audience like the concert? “Each band was well prepared and attentive the whole concert, even when they weren’t playing,” says a mother of three students in the bands, Sheila King. “I think each band played to the potential they were supposed to play, so the audience got the affect of seeing the students growing from fifth grade to Wind Symphony,” says King. Like said before that is a big part of what the concert is about; it’s cool for the community to see all the maturity students get through their music in the bands. “It was also initially done for recruitment and education of band,” says Hicks.
It is also nice the community gets to go to a dinner if they like, held at UMS, before the concert to interact and socialize. On the menu this year was chili and mac and cheese, and rumors be told it was very good. During this time eaters also get to hear the UMS jazz band play, which most say is nice background music for the dinner.
As head of the district’s musical department, conductor and MC for this concert, does Darren Hicks enjoy doing this concert? “I enjoy our [concert] a lot. It can be stressful running the whole thing but it’s definitely a good stress… Monday night went very well. I was especially happy with the high school bands performance. I was also happy with how the night as a whole was- it went as smooth as it could have,” says Hicks.
If you didn’t get a chance to hear the concert this year, you can always keep your ears out in the community for news of individual concerts through the rest of the year. The All-District concert is also planned on happening for many years to come, so be on the look out for that too!
About The Author
