Jeffrey L. Gorman

I was looking at the BOA schedule of contests for this fall and found out that BOA is only sponsoring 1 Contest in CA this fall. That event is located in Bakersfield and will be held on Nov 2nd. To no ones surprise in CA, the lineup only includes 7 Bands as of this time.Ayala is the only Band with any reputation in Field Contest Shows entered(To be honest I have to wonder if they will be at BOA, The Chino School District is hosting a WBA Marching Contest that same day. Since the School District wants all their Bands to be involved in local events, I can see that Ayala may not be competing at BOA that night. ) Last fall BOA had two contests in CA, One in Northern CA in early Oct and one in Southern CA in Late Oct. Neither are on the schedule for this season. For most folks who do not understand how Bands in CA work, their marching season starts the first week in Oct, which is late for those of us in other parts of the Country and their Finals in all their Contests are held the third week in Nov. This fall between the 26th of Oct and 23 of Nov, there will be 28 Marching Contests and Also the California specialty of Field Show, Band Review, Jazz Band Contest and in two occasions, Concert Band adjudlcations. These events make for a long day. CA is the only state that does this type of Contest in the West. Because of these event dates, many of California's Top Bands (who do both Parade and Field will not go to BOA) I do not understand why BOA did not have the contests in CA earlier in the fall, however you can be sure that the Circuits that Compete in CA, SCSBOA, NCBA, WBA, CSBC, MBOS and GSBOA are happy about BOA abandoning the Biggest State in the nation.

The Big problems are two fold. Most of the out of state contests are held on weekends in Oct, which is a conflict with the majority of Bands in the State having UIL Regional Marching contests on the Saturdays in question. The Indy Super Region conflicts with the weekend UIL Area Contests and I know of no administrations that would allow a Band to miss a UIL Contest for any BOA Event. 2. Football. Grand Nationals are after the Regular Season has ended so school administrators would have fewer reasons to complain about a Band missing a Football Game(which they had no knowledge of until the season ended). ADD on Homecomings which makes a long trip during that weekend unpopular with Officials and to be honest probably a fair amount of the Bands. We just have to work with the situation we have. I think we should encourage Bands to go to other states, however that is not going to be supported to the same level as going to San Antonio in the First week of Nov.

Here is how it works. The PIAA Pennsylvania Interscholastic Association is a member of National Federation of High Schools. PIMBA, which serves Bands in Western PA is aligned with PIAA. If you will look at Article 6 in the By Laws, they talk about Festival or Rated Bands and how they are to be judged. Going further PIMBA started doing exhibition Contests (for Ratings) in 2004. Apparently more and more High School Bands want the Festival Ratings for their contests. For those of you in Eastern PA, the Tournament of Bands Circuit now are offering Rated Marching Festivals. Interestingly enough, the Cavalcade of Bands does not provide this service. I guess both PIMBA and TOB had contact with PIAA. It would seem that the Festival Ratings are becoming more popular in schools in PA, but not the majority at this time.

I think one of the little talked about reasons for many Bands not going to Grand Nationals this year is very simple. Many of the state education folks have bought into having their own regional Marching contests and in some cases, their own state events. For example, Ohio has a lot of good Bands, but not many are at GNC. Ohio now has a State Marching championship contest which has become more important because of the emphasis of recognizing THE BEST BANDS IN OHIO. Interestingly enough, their State Contest is strictly ratings. This is just one of many situations, which has came about because the NATIONAL FEDERATION of STATE HS ASSOCIATIONS is trying to make it easy for each state to have Marching Contest. If you go to the NFSHS Web site you will see that they have their own approved copies of score sheets and rules for contests. I know that the Iowa High School Music Association(IHSMA) now has a state Marching Contest which all schools approve of. It is similar to UIL Region Contest with all Bands Performing strictly for Ratings. This is also being done in Michigan, PA, and numerous other states in the East. The fact of the matter is, we are the unique state in this nation. We not only spend more money on our Bands and let me say this for all of you who are so critical of your school districts support for Band. TEXAS SCHOOLS DO NOT LIKE BEING TOLD THAT HAVING A ONE SIZE FITS ALL MARCHING CONTEST SYSTEM ACROSS THE COUNTRY, WE TEND TO KNOW WHAT WE WANT. It has been far to easy for many states school systems to be glad that they have a MARCHING FESTIVAL, OR CONTEST THAT EVERY ONE IS HAPPY WITH. Lets face it is not OUR CONCERT BAND System based on the Rating system type of operation. There will always be Bands who want to attend GNC, however let u s have no illusion that other states think like we co.

Looking at the Collierville Web site, they have a new director of Bands and Guard in place. One interesting thing is that Collierville has done BOA, but only one event a year. They did not participate in the West Tennessee Band and Orchestra Association Marching Festival for the last several years(This is similar to UIL Region Marching Contest), something you can not avoid in TX. The Band is fairly large, but not bigger than most Bands here in TX. They seem to be very strong in Concert Band I think it will be interesting to seeing what he brings to the Band Scene here..

I was at the contest at Baylor University that day. It had to be among the most miserable days I have ever sat out in or marched in while in High School or College Band. Fortunately, those of you who in later years had the opportunity to march at the Alamodome can thank those Band members who went on the field that Early November Day and convinced the powers that be that we are not CA and cannot guarantee great weather for events. Congratulations go to the great Duncanville Band that won their last UIL State Marching Championship that day. They were truly worthy of the victory in that cold, rain, sleet and snow. They defeated a very good LD Bell Band that day. It was a once in a lifetime event to sit through with that weather and I came prepared with a heavy Car Coat and lined boots and gloves and still almost froze.

I think it is good for us to like other activities. I am a big USC and PAC12 Sports Fan(Congratulations to the Bruins in Softball) and while being assigned in England became a rabid fan of Manchester United and their great Coach Sir Alex Ferguson. He convinced me that great leaders can make average individuals great. The fact is that great Bands in general are lead by Great Directors and that is why they usually win in contests, either Marching or Concert Wise.

The reason why most CA Bands do not compete in BOA is that there are to many circuits for Bands to compete in out there. Look at this list and you will see why we do not see more CA Bands. SCSBOA They have both Field and Parade Contests throughout Southern CA Different field rules NCBA They run all the Parade and some Field Contest in Northern CA. Totally different rules than SCSBOA in both areas WBA They run their own circuit for schools in CA, NV, AZ and have their own championships MBOS They run contest in Southern CA and Nevada. Again different rule GSJA A new circuit in the mix. Primarily in Northern CA CSJA Another judging circuit sponsoring contests. BOA Last in the list. All these circuits have their own rules, with all except BOA using size of Band for classification instead of size of School like BOA does. It is not unusual to see a school with 4,000 students in Class !A, 60 members or less in the Band competing against really small enrollment schools. I wish they would work to have a agreement about how to judge their Bands out there. I have hoped for that for many years, it has not happened. As one of My friends said, " How do you expect CA to ever send many Bands to BOA with so many different rules and formats of Contests here. . Also remember on CA has Two AAA Auto Clubs, Automobile club of Southern CA and California State Automobile Association in the North. They cannot even be unified in Auto Clubs why would you expect our School Bands to work together I hope you can get out to CA in the fall, What I am saying is that going to the BOA Contests will not necessarily show you the States best Bands since they are pulled so many different ways.

While it is true that there have been Bands that have dropped out of GN, please note that the CA Band Ayala is coming this year. while they will not win GN, they have finished in the finals twice and won both BOA contests in the West, in SOCAL and UTAH. To be brutally honest last year they took American Fork apart in the Utah BOA contest. So one Band is adding GN to its schedule. Wish more would.

The reason we have over 700 HS Bands playing on Saturday the 19th of Oct is because the Regions that have to travel a distance are loath to take their Students out of Class on a School day. If you look at the makeup of Region 8, you have 26 Class 4 A through 6A Bands with some coming as far as 90 miles away from Waco. This also applies in Region 16 with most Schools having to travel to Lubbock, Region 1 Bands have to travel to Amarillo. this also applies to regions in the RGV , East TX and other Regions. All of which are long Bus trips for the Bands. For most Bands in the Metroplex and Austin, the distance is not so great and more tenable. As for having UIL be held on School days so that Bands can go to BOA, please be aware that out of the 1350 HS Bands in TX less than 200 compete in BOA events. Having contact with our Distric Music Programs, I can tell you that most of our schools in my region have no interest in doing BOA . Last year of the 66 HS Bands in Region 8, only 1 attended 1 BOA event. This is probably the case in Regions such as Region 7, Region 14, Region 21, 10 and numerous others. I am not against BOA and I have no problem with Schools in Larger Areas having UIL Contests during weekdays such as Region 9, and Region 5. Please understand that next year is a 1A, 3A, & 5A Advance to state. Since most of these High Schools, especially in Class 1A & 3A do not enter invitational contests like bigger schools, the Region and Area Contest are both important. As I have been told on many occasions, UIL exists to support Each School in TX..

It was just posted on the Texas Yellow Board that the Battle and The Berry marching contest will be held on 12 Oct 2019.

You might want to look at Duncanvilles SMC record. They go back to 1988.

They would do well there, however they will not beat Ayala. They are one of the few CA Bands that have taken major interest in BOA contests and it shows. They are not going to beat our top Bands, but they can easily hold their own against our Second tier Bands at BOA contest. Bel Air is good but they are a Second Tier Band by our Standards.

Actually while growing up in CA, My High School Band Marched in the Rose Parade and several other events against Texas Bands. Back in the 60's and 70's almost every TX HS Band I heard used the Theme from the Movie "GIANT" by Dimitri Tiomkin which was a great piece of music. I think that beats Deep in the Heart of Texas by a landslide.

Since I am so much older I have seen shows done before most of the folks here were born. My favorite show and I still think greatest performance was by Cardinal Dougherty(Pronounced by Philly Folk as Dockerty) High Schools Band, in the fall of 1976 at the Parade of Champions Marching Contest at the Philadelphia Convention Center(yes folks it was indooors). The Parade of Champions was hosted by Dougherty from 1956 to 1983 and featured most of the Great East Coast High School Bands in a seasons ending contest which was judged by the Directors of the Army, Navy, Air force, and Marine Bands based in Washington, DC. The inspection of the Bands was conducted by the Drum Majors of these Service Bands(Yes they were tough judges). The Dougherty Band being host of the event performed last. Their Show was entitled 20 years of Marching Excellence by the Dougherty Band and featured Music used by the Band over the last 20 years. Among the Highlights was the complete performance of their 13 minute show done at the Welt Musik (that is dutch and not a typo) Contest at Kerkereade, The Netherlands in Jul 1966 which at that time was recognized as the Worlds Marching Band Contest. The Bands repertoire for this performance went as Such Opening in Company Fronts to the Magniflcent Seven by Bernstein. The Size of the Band in 1966 was 194 members with 96 musicians, 73 members precision Drill Team, 16 member Rifle Guard, 8 Standard Bearers and 1 drum Major. The Bands uniforms were copied after the style of the Household Brigade however the Colors were Garnet Coat with Cream Belts and Cream Trousers. The Band wore authentic Bearskin Hats After the entrance the Band split into Block Band and performed a required Precision Drill March to the French National Defile. This was to show the judges that the Band could march in military style Drill. Upon completion of this drill the Band was required to perform in concert Formation a Selected Number. Dougherty choose Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral, which they did from memory. The Bands closing requirement was to leave the field by Playing a March while leaving the field from two different sides so that the Judges could see the Bands ability to play the music as a unit. This drill is still done at European Band Contest by the way. Dougherty choose the Theme From Conquest by Newman while leaving the field. The Band received a Standing ovation from the Crowd. That performance won the Band the Championship of the Contest while finishing 31 points higher than the nearest competitor Band. Dougherty's score stood as the highest ever recorded at this contest until it ended in 2000. Dougherty beat 30 other Bands from around the world and they were the Only American High School Band in the contest. This contest was part of the 31 day tour of Europe conducted in 1966.Yes I said 31 days. They toured 6 countries and were the First American High School Band to Perform at the Vatican for Pope Paul the 6th Getting back to there show, the Music from the trip to Europe was part of the Contest and the Band not only repeated their show but performed 6 different pieces of music from previous Parade of Champions to include How The West was Won, the complete Service Songs from the Armed Forces and finished their show with the Battle Hymn of the Republic. What made this a great performance was that the entire 25 minute show was done from MEMORY. I have never seen a Band before of after do so much music from memory. They ended their Show with Elsa's Procession to the Cathedral from Lohengrin which brought a Standing Ovation from the other 9 Bands from throughout the East who were all very good. I have never seen this degree of musical skill done before or since by a High School. Sadly Cardinal Dougherty High School closed in 2001. The cost of attendance became to high for students to attend. However their performances through out their period of existence is still remembered by those who have had the honor of seeing them perform.

If you look at the demographics of UIL, you will find that getting many of the top 5A &6A Bands to Waco next year to Compete is not a real possibllity. Last year over 736 Bands marched on Saturday out of 1330 Bands. Among the Regions that competed on Saturday were Region 2, Lewisville ISD. Etc Region 11 &12 San Antonio to include NEISD Bands Regions 27, 31 and 33. Houston area to include the Cy Fair Schools. Region 32 Leander ISD Bands Region 15, 30 and 14. The Rio Grande Valley Schools and Corpus Christi South to include Laredo Region 25 McKinney ISD to Include Frisco and Allen Region 26 Round Rock ISD These are just the Biggest 5A & 6A Regions. Last year the Lone Star Preview, hosted by the Woodlands drew only 14 Bands for their contest. My guess is that if BOA has a contest at Waco that day they will probably draw closer to 18 Bands due to the other schools contest. I wonder if someone looked at Avon and Carmel not going to ISSMA last year and thought that might be possible in TX. WRONG ANSWER.

The 19th of Oct is the tenative date for UIL Region 8 Marching Contest. There are 26 Bands in Region 8 in 4A, 5A and 6A. The other 40 Bands in Class A, 2A and 3A will compete during the week. Only one of the 26 schools attended a BOA event next year so I have to believe the Region will not change dates. . They will probably use MIDWAY ISD Panther Stadium, located in Hewitt, a suburb of Waco for the UIL Region. . Good news is Baylor is away on the 19th. Biggest problem I see is feeding everyone with two events within 10 miles of each other.

This is correct, did anyone wonder why Carmel and Avon win BOA, but other Bands in IN Such as Ben Davis, Castle and other good Bands are not there. The reason is that these two Bands are the best. It is the same way in every State, BA in OK , DeSoto and Hernando in MS, Mason in OH, Desert Vista in AZ, I could go on for a long time with other situations. Fact is that the Best Bands win across the nation only at Grand Nationals does being the Best in your state turn out to not be good enough.

After watching the Pre Game performances of the Michigan and Ohio State University Bands, I realize why I enjoyed College Band so much better than HS. Yes we like winning trophies, but no matter what type of show we performed, you cannot match the Script Ohio of the Buckeye Marching Band, of which my father was a member. I hope our College Bands never become competitive because Bands like UT, Baylor, Texas Tech and others allow college musicians to enjoy playing in the Band, without the competition stress of the Shows. I think of this when ever I hear my College Band strike up Conquest, and how much fun Band is and can be

That is right. The 8 hour rule is a TEA Regulation applying to ALL activities not just Band.Back in the late 1990's Spring Westfield decided to test the 8 Hour Rule by not doing Region Marching Contest, but going to BOA instead. In the Spring after getting 1st Divisions in Concert and Sight Reading the school expected to recieive a Sweepstakes Award from UIL. Advised that since the Band did not compete in the UIL Region Marching Contest, they were not eligible for Sweepstakes Band Status. They were also penalized for abusing the 8 hour rule by practicing for BOA over the alloted amount of time allowed. This is a NO BRAINER. Also look at it this way, when LD Bell won BOA, the win while conforming to the 8 Hour Rule was national news in the School Music world. I had just moved to TX when the State Legislature passed the No Pass No Play law (which inlcludes this provision). The coaches moaned and then some Band Directors moaned, however within 5 years there was a very noticeable improvement in the schools academically. I do not agree with everything UIL does, however after comparing them to the rest of the nation's High School Activities programs we are very fortunate.

Arcadia CA has a JV Band, the only one in CA I know of. They have 382 members in the Band, Banners, Musicians, and Flags and not only compete in Field Marching but in Parade Marching. In Parade Marching, the Contest Band numbers 240 members. They have a JV Band made up of the other 140 members who also compete in Parade Marching in two different contests. The JV Band primarily made up of 9th and 10 Grade competes against smaller schools in a different class. They came up with this idea because in CA they have several combined Parade and Field Show Contests. The Field Band numbers approximately 300 members which looking in numbers is 60 more folks than in the the Parade Contest Band. By having the JV Band compete in the Parade Marching, they take the whole Band to contests and the remaining 82 folks assist in getting the field Band ready. The JV Band has the Assistant Directors of Bands and Guard Directors working with them during these contests in which the Band is divided. For events like the Arcadia Festival of Bands(being held this weekend) the entire Band marches as they are the host band and do not compete (Watch them on You Tube) The entire Band marches at places like Disneyland and the Tournament of Roses Parade(They have marched 16 times in this event) At Football games the Field Band does their show with the JV band folks joining in forming the School A and playing the Fight Song at the end of the show. They started doing the JV Band Competing in Parade to give the younger students an opportunity to compete . They do usually 5 Parade Contest and 3 Field Contests plus the SCSBOA Championships

In regards to only sending 3 Bands to SMC, you might want to look at the UIL/TMEA Agreement on Alignment for marching bands for the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years. HTTPS//Align.TMEA.ORG/Align.1820/ It lists how many Bands it expects to advance to SMC based on previous history. I think this explains some of the reasons why Bands are put in different areas.

I would agree with you, however folks in TN were quick to bring up that DB did not even compete in TN at all this fall. Besides GN, they entered the BOA contest in SC where they finished second. They also competed at the Western Carolina University Contest in NC. They did no other contests. Munford won the Contest at Briarcrest Christian in TN, they also won the Southern Star Invitational Contest in MS beating the Top Bands in MS and AR. They finished second at the Music City Invitational in Nashville, while winning Class AAAA, and Highest Music Score. They also had a 1st Division Rating at the Western Tennessee Band and Orchestra Association Marching Contest. There is no Eastern Tennessee Band and Orchestra Association to compare the results against and TN Does not have a State Marching Contest. Since the schools are almost 500 miles apart geographically, it is a wonder that anyone claim anything. Munford has won the Bandmasters Championship 19 years and finished 2nd out of 28 Bands this fall at the University of Memphis sponsored contest. Folks in the states of TN, MS, AR and MO consider this the top Marching Contest for their Bands. These Bands will not compete against each other. Munford has gone to US Bands National Championships and won in 2013. They finished second in 2011. Their record does not show any BOA appearances. I agree that their show is dated by BOA Standards, however musically they can more than hold their own with their sound. Since DB does not compete in TN, I guess that is why we prefer to have a State Championship.

While they are a great Band, the Best Band in TN is Munford, who are going to Pasadena for the Rose Parade. Munford finished 2nd at the Band Masters championship at Memphis University, a BOA quality type contest, earlier this fall and won contests in MS and Nashville. They to my knowledge do not do BOA but are recognized as the Best Band in TN

To determine what to expect look at each of the 33 Regions of UIL and match the number of High Schools in the Region with how many schools go to BOA Or US Bands vs those that do not go. Also look at the numbers of students in each school and the percentage enrolled in Bands. These decisions are not just in music, but in all areas of UIL Activity. To make things work, both sides of issues have to talk things out, neither of which in my opinion have been willing to do on a frequent basis.