Skippy

All comments can be summed up in this: Consistency of staff. The longer a team (and head director) work in the same location, the more they can perfect their method and improve upon the success of previous years. In other words, there are no setbacks from year to year. Look at the bands you named and this proves to be the case. In the case of Bell and Duncanville, they have had relatively recent head director changes, however, those directors had worked alongside the previous head and the transition was smooth. My 2 cents.

Now that you mention it, I do remember it being an awful show. And now you add that 2004 state experience with the 2002 mud/rain/40 degree disaster, and you have a pretty good idea of what my friends and I thought of UIL back in high school.

I've never seen Pflugerville before, but they absolutely blew me away in Prelims. I'm curious as to who writes their drill, as it's very Cavalieresque. Those kids are pulling it off great.

To further elaborate on that year's UIL music caption: Yes, one judge, who was a last minute replacement for Richard Saucedo gave us dead last at 33rd I think. Alfred Watkins, Lassiter band director, gave us 3rd or 4th. The other judge was in the middle at 16th or 17th. After that, it's no wonder SFA doesn't give a rip about UIL anymore.

Read: DCI's trying to sell more quarterfinals tickets.

Virtuosi is a solid organization, I played horn for them for a season or two of high school. Franz Krager was the director at the time, he's great. It's a "chamber orchestra", so it's smaller than the typical symphony orchestra. Probably the most prestigious group in Houston would be the Houston Youth Symphony. Get involved with them if you can.

Good, that place is worthless acoustically. Anything outside the 20s and you might as well have stayed home.

For this year only.

The city of Allen is an exploding suburban area that somehow maintains the "small town" mentality. From what I've been told, the band should be 750 in the next couple of years.

I am looking for recordings of the following concert band pieces: Summer Dance - Brian Balmages Ave Maria - Franz Biebl/arr. Cameron American Civil War Fantasy - Jerry Bilik Symphonic Prelude - Mark Camphouse Variations on a Korean Folk Song - John Barnes Chance Tales From Anderson - Martin Ellerby Be Thou My Vision - arr. David Gillingham Concord - arr. Clare Grundman Seis Manuel from Islas y Montana - Shelley Hanson Fantasy on a Japanese Folk Song - Samulel Hazo Third Suite - Robert Jager Elegy for a Young American - Ronald Lo Presti Kaddish - Francis McBeth Festival Prelude - Alfred Reed Allerseelen - Richard Strauss/arr. David/Fennell Salvation is Created - Paul Tschesnokoff/arr. Houseknecht Rhosymedre - Ralph Vaughan Williams/arr. Beeler Lux Aurumque - Eric Whitacre Sleep - Eric Whitacre October - Eric Whitacre Symphonic Dance #3 - Clifton Williams Chorale and Shaker Dance - John Zdechlik I'm trying to get into more score study, any recordings you have would be very helpful in furthering my pursuits in becoming a better musician. You could email them to me at aaronpowell2000@gmail.com. Yousendit.com works well for files that are too large. Thanks!

And how good the new director is.

Judges already do this, they might as well give them the title. I'm sick of music GE tapes having more visual comments on them than musical.

I used "quality of instruction" as a broad term to encompass all the possible influences an instructor could have, regardless of the time factor. The point I was trying to make is that the kids in Hurst are not drinking something in the water that makes them superhuman. They are like many other kids across the state from a physical and mental capability standpoint. There are certain qualities that extremely gifted teachers have that go beyond teaching and can completely change the attitude and motivation of the program that they step into. For example: Andrea Peterson, the 2007 national teacher of the year. Amanda Drinkwater - 2nd year as director of bands at Marcus (4th year at the school) was a 5a state champion show. (never previously having made state finals). Dean Westman - 4th year at SFA High school and the band won the BOA Houston regional and 5th at grand nationals. Before Mr. Westman, the band was getting 2's at UIL region marching contest.

I would LOVE to see that.

Duncanville's repertoire is legit. I wish more bands were like that.