Marching shows 2012-2013

[buzz]

  Danpod said:

I ask myself that question almost every day during the Summer. Directors seem to be scared poopless about this information coming out before the first contest. Personally, I don't understand it and I probably never will. What gets on my nerves are the posts from the students who know about the show but are forbidden from saying anything.

 

I'm glad I'm not alone! Thanks!

[icemanf109]

Just FYI, I am NOT a current student at Coppell...I am a marching tech. The students have not been told anything that I'm aware of (I have a sister in band). There are 370 students enrolled in band, but only 270 will be marching. I do not know if the 270 includes colorguard, drumline, etc or whether it includes everybody.

 

...and good luck trying to look up the show information on a website or asking parents. Most of the band booster parents don't even know what the show is yet.

 

The directors and visual, music staff are talking every week and already making some changes to the program.

[aaron067]

That's certainly larger than it used to be. My first year to tech in Coppell was 2004, and we marched 181 wind players with 18 guard members and approximately 15 in the drumline, though all the contest programs said there were 300 performers. The numbers they field have been fairly consistent since then, though I think they might have grown to the 200-220 range as far as wind players are concerned in recent years.

 

Without a doubt they're one of the largest marching bands in the state, and the white uniforms only help to increase the perception of lots of kids on the field. Having spent 3 years working nearly full time with the band while I was in college promoted a loyalty to Scott and the program that I don't think I'll ever lose. With that said, I wish them all the best this next year, and I hope the change in design approach produces the success that the staff is looking for.

[buzz]

Any updates? I'm surprised that there aren't that many announcements this year!

 

Dripping Springs 2012

"Silence" ~ Music by Samuel Barber

- School for Scandel

- Adagio for Strings

- Symphony No. 1

 

 

McCallum 2012

"Dance Movements"

- Farandole ~ Bizet

- "Overture" from Dancer in the Dark ~ Bjork

- "Danza Finale" from Estancia ~ Ginastera

- Medea's Dance of Vengeance ~ Barber

- Bolero ~ Ravel

 

 

 

Cedar Park 2012

"Celebracion"

- La Fiesta Mexicana ~ Reed

- Sensemaya ~ Revueltas

- Adios Nonino ~ Piazzolla

- Danzon No. 2 ~ Marquez

Edited August 5, 2012 by benzein

[mellopwn1]

L.D. Bell: "The Devil's Staircase"

 

"Ave Maria" by Bach

"Nox Aurumque" by Eric Whitacre

and others.

 

Every year, Marcus places a clue to the theme of their show on the band's website. Two years ago it was a candelabra. Last year it was a Ferris wheel. THIS YEAR it is a key. So...their show somehow involves keys.

Edited August 5, 2012 by mellopwn1

[takigan]

http://www.marcusband.com/

 

The key is spinning.

 

This makes me think of a guard member spinning a key.....which makes me think of a key that is about the length of a rifle or sabre....which makes me think of keyblades.....which....yeah .

 

[medina5012]

Marcus' show is entitled Gidled Memories (Bach Theme)

 

Music

 

Part 1&2

 

Toccata and Fugue in D Minor(Part 1 Toccata/Part 2 Fugue)

 

Part 3

 

Air from Orchestrial Suite No. 3

 

Part 4

 

Cello Suite No. 5

 

All Bach pieces, they'll have a great sound again this year, especially since it will probably be geared towards their phenomenal woodwind section.

[Xenon]

  takigan said:

http://www.marcusband.com/

 

The key is spinning.

 

This makes me think of a guard member spinning a key.....which makes me think of a key that is about the length of a rifle or sabre....which makes me think of keyblades.....which....yeah .

 

 

Those were absolutely awesome games.

[mellopwn1]

  Steffin said:

Toccata and Fugue in d Minor(Part 1 Toccata/Part 2 Fugue)

 

All Bach pieces, they'll have a great sound again this year, especially since it will probably be geared towards their phenomenal woodwind section.

 

They SHOULD sound great considering their Wind Symphony placed 3rd in TMEA State playing Toccata and Fugue! Smart move, I have to say.

Edited August 7, 2012 by mellopwn1

[medina5012]

Yeah, and just a little bit more of an advantage, they played t&f for UIL. I got to listen to their program for UIL this year since we hosted it...they should have won they sounded phenomenal.

[clarineticorn]

  Danpod said:

I ask myself that question almost every day during the Summer. Directors seem to be scared poopless about this information coming out before the first contest. Personally, I don't understand it and I probably never will. What gets on my nerves are the posts from the students who know about the show but are forbidden from saying anything.

 

"I KNOW OUR SHOW BUT IT'S A SECRET! LAWL TROLL!!!"

 

I'm not saying that programs should rent a twin-engine plane and fly the show title around the town on a banner. What I'm saying is that directors should be prepared for this information to come out once they tell their students about the show.

 

If you're really curious about what a school is doing, you can always look up their website or even their parent's association website and see what you can find there.

 

Just graduated here. My HS director said he prefers the show name and concept to remain within the band until the first performance and I believe the reason is partly because he doesn't want anyone taking ideas, and also partly because it builds anticipation. "Oooh! Band XYZ is performing! They were great last year, I wonder what they're going to pull off this year?" Then after the performance, "Woah, I never expected THAT to be their show! DO IT AGAIN! IT WAS AWESOME!"

 

I know what my old high school's show is and I'm not going to say anything as to what it is until it's been performed at contests mainly out of respect for my director's wishes. Try as they might, the directors can't control everyone's mouths and information WILL be leaked, but they understand that and they want to keep it to a minimum so the show is more of a surprise (a good one!) at the first contest.

[buzz]

LD Bell 2012

 

"This Bitter Earth"

[erasure101]

  benzein said:

LD Bell 2012

 

"This Bitter Earth"

From the teaser, it sounds like the show will be quite intense.

 

"This Bitter Earth" is a 1960 song made famous by Dinah Washington. It was written and produced by Clyde Otis. The song is a key piece in the 1977 film Killer of Sheep.

[takigan]

  Steffin said:

Yeah, and just a little bit more of an advantage, they played t&f for UIL. I got to listen to their program for UIL this year since we hosted it...they should have won they sounded phenomenal.

 

A little bit of an advantage....

 

Most HS top groups only have 45-60 players, with as many as half of them being seniors. All those seniors are gone now, so there are probably only 20 or 30 marchers in a band of 300-ish that have played the piece before.....not to mention the marching version will be a different version that's loosely based on the original with probably very different instrumentation....plus you're on the marching field now, not a concert hall, which requires different performance practices. They won't enjoy that much of an advantage with 20 or 30 members already being familiar with the work.

 

Might as well nip that one in the bud right now before people start crying foul about it come Area time.

 

This same field of logic applies to claims that a school having an Honor Band champion should transfer to a stellar music performance by the whole marching band on the field. To an extent this is true; a band program that can produce an Honor Band usually has students being taught to make good sounds and good music from first to last chair....but the top group only represents a small fraction (1/3 or less) of the entire band program....and it's taught primarily by 1 teacher (which, in the case of Honor Band champions, is often a Master Teacher with 15+ years of experience). Marching bands are taught by MANY teachers of varying abilities and experience levels. Some bands with diverse student populations (not just ethnically, but culturally or even academically) also have a proportionally stronger upper echelon with a huge drop in ability occurring somewhere in the middle of the chair roster, often resulting in a very large gap in ability between first & last chair. The strength of the varsity wouldn't serve as much of an example to the musical aptitude of the entire program in this case.

[mellopwn1]

Takigan's right, it really isn't that big of a deal. I bet playing "last year's concert music" is fairly common practice. We're just noticing now because Marcus is such a visible program. Besides, LD Bell has recycled show music in the past (Lux Arumque in 2005 and 2007 shows, and Music for Prague 1968 in 2005 and 2008, off the top of my head), and no one really minded, so nbd.

 

Even if you contend that the Wind Symphony previously playing Toccata and Fugue is an advantage, then kudos to Marcus. There's no rule against something like this, and they're smart to capitalize on such an opportunity.

 

So either way, you can't really complain.

[medina5012]

  takigan said:

A little bit of an advantage....

 

Most HS top groups only have 45-60 players, with as many as half of them being seniors. All those seniors are gone now, so there are probably only 20 or 30 marchers in a band of 300-ish that have played the piece before.....not to mention the marching version will be a different version that's loosely based on the original with probably very different instrumentation....plus you're on the marching field now, not a concert hall, which requires different performance practices. They won't enjoy that much of an advantage with 20 or 30 members already being familiar with the work.

 

Might as well nip that one in the bud right now before people start crying foul about it come Area time.

 

This same field of logic applies to claims that a school having an Honor Band champion should transfer to a stellar music performance by the whole marching band on the field. To an extent this is true; a band program that can produce an Honor Band usually has students being taught to make good sounds and good music from first to last chair....but the top group only represents a small fraction (1/3 or less) of the entire band program....and it's taught primarily by 1 teacher (which, in the case of Honor Band champions, is often a Master Teacher with 15+ years of experience). Marching bands are taught by MANY teachers of varying abilities and experience levels. Some bands with diverse student populations (not just ethnically, but culturally or even academically) also have a proportionally stronger upper echelon with a huge drop in ability occurring somewhere in the middle of the chair roster, often resulting in a very large gap in ability between first & last chair. The strength of the varsity wouldn't serve as much of an example to the musical aptitude of the entire program in this case.

 

I wasn't making it out as a big advantage for them, however most of their kids from last year in Wind Symphony are going to be there this year I believe. This would help them a little bit per say the fact some of the kids will be able to nail some parts that others won't be playing (i.e. trumpets from last year playing higher octave stuff from the music b/c they played it last year or w.w.s playing technical parts from last year). Obviously not a great advantage, but still gives them a little bit more than any other ensemble.

[Rubisco]

Considering that the older, more seasoned players are typically the ones playing confidently during marching season, I think playing some Bach this past concert season will afford Marcus a bit of an advantage. (Heck, any exposure to playing Bach's richly contrapuntal music is an advantage.) That said, it's not like Marcus wasn't already going to be the best sounding band this year. Seriously, I don't think it's an exaggeration to say they've been the best band musically every year since 2005. So.... yeah...

[rcb05]

Pasted from Duncanville's website:

 

In our 2012 production, "The Crossing," the Duncanville High School Band and High Hats will complete the "Angel" trilogy that began in 2010. The show opens with the haunting chorale from Gustav Mahler's Second Symphony, known as the "Resurrection" Symphony. The remainder of the first movement introduces the beautiful melody of "Hope" from Jonathan Elias' "The Prayer Cycle," followed by the aggressive and highly technical Piano Concerto in G by Howard Hanson. The second movement revisits and builds on "The Prayer Cycle" melody first heard in the show's opening. The final movement opens with Jake Remington's "Prelude to Paradise," a powerful technical display by the percussion and woodwinds as our character struggles to leave this world behind in favor of the next. Finally, the "crossing" is complete, and the triumphant finale of Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony brings our 2012 program and three-year story to a magnificent conclusion.

[Drummantx]

Some panhandle reps:

 

Canyon - Ballet Sacra (Scott Coulson came and cliniced us last year and pretty much told us how to restructure our program so we could be more competetive, so expecting to see a lot of similarities to their 97 championship show)

 

Randall - Some mirror type show, using mirrors I think. New director, heard things about how that's working out. About all I know.

 

Amarillo High - Rhapsody in Blue, Blue Shades, and Blue Rondo a la Turk

 

Frenship - Indivisible

[Drum major]

Round Rock's show is "The Raven" by Poe.. Intense and fast. RR is working with a new Head Director( prev assistant director) but all key people still in place.. So they should continue to impress without missing a beat... All I can say about Drumline and Colorguard is. WOW... THEY ARE IMPRESSIVE. On a different note... Does anyone know who is attending Westlake Marching Contest this year?

[scoobydoo]

Round Rock's show is "The Raven" by Poe.. Intense and fast. RR is working with a new Head Director( prev assistant director) but all key people still in place.. So they should continue to impress without missing a beat... All I can say about Drumline and Colorguard is. WOW... THEY ARE IMPRESSIVE. On a different note... Does anyone know who is attending Westlake Marching Contest this year?

 

 

 

 

Their new assistant director is amazing.

[mellopwn1]

Ronald Reagan HS

"Let it Shine"

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3FeRsbwf-8

 

They look a bit larger than in recent memory, which is good! Some interesting drill moves are being executed and they are making some decent sounds! I'm a bit more hopeful for GN finals after seeing this. Still bubble at this point, though.

 

James Bowie HS

"Stellae Errantes" (Wandering Stars)

[mellopwn1]

  rcb05 said:

Pasted from Duncanville's website:

 

In our 2012 production, "The Crossing," the Duncanville High School Band and High Hats will complete the "Angel" trilogy that began in 2010. The show opens with the haunting chorale from Gustav Mahler's Second Symphony, known as the "Resurrection" Symphony. The remainder of the first movement introduces the beautiful melody of "Hope" from Jonathan Elias' "The Prayer Cycle," followed by the aggressive and highly technical Piano Concerto in G by Howard Hanson. The second movement revisits and builds on "The Prayer Cycle" melody first heard in the show's opening. The final movement opens with Jake Remington's "Prelude to Paradise," a powerful technical display by the percussion and woodwinds as our character struggles to leave this world behind in favor of the next. Finally, the "crossing" is complete, and the triumphant finale of Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony brings our 2012 program and three-year story to a magnificent conclusion.

 

Wow, that's some great rep. For those unfamiliar with the music, "Hope" was The Woodland's ballad in 2009, and Mahler Symphony No. 2 was the basis for most of Cedar Park's championship show last year. This is the first Duncanville show I'm excited to see since 2008! They are going to sound great come November.

[Abbie123]

Leander High School

2012-"The Ritual"

 

Sensemaya - Revueltas

Symphony No. 1 (III Andante tranquillo) - Samuel Barber

La Fiesta Mexicana - H.O. Reed

[mellopwn1]

  Abbie123 said:

Leander High School

2012-"The Ritual"

 

Sensemaya - Revueltas

Symphony No. 1 (III Andante tranquillo) - Samuel Barber

La Fiesta Mexicana - H.O. Reed

 

Ha, it's Cedar Park's show but backwards!