2018 6A State

[LeanderMomma]

  On 11/17/2018 at 1:55 AM, TWHSParent said:

Yes, TWCA is The Woodlands Christian Academy.

 

Conroe ISD has 6 main high schools: Conroe, The Woodlands, College Park, Oak Ridge, Caney Creek, and Grand Oaks. TWHS, as was mentioned, is quite large and designed for the numbers it currently accommodates (grades 10-12 only). Much of it is 3 floors. There is a video on youtube showing the school:

 

As an area, The Woodlands is very nearly built out (pop is pushing 120,000), so most of the growth is happening in other areas of the district (hence Grand Oaks). TWHS will probably not increase enrollment too much over the next few years, unless they change the boundaries to relieve TWCP or Oak Ridge again (these 3 are very close together - maybe 3 miles from TWHS to Oak Ridge, and TWCP is very roughly midway between). The Woodlands is a little weird, as it isn't incorporated so there is no city council or anything like that. It is a township, with plans to incorporate in the future. Political wrangling was necessary to keep it from being annexed by Houston.

 

Fascinating!  I did not know that The Woodlands was a township.  Or that all of those schools were part of the Conroe ISD.  It sounds like they are doing as much as they can to accommodate growth at this time.  How many kids are in the band at TWHS?  How about CP?  

[TWHSParent]

  On 11/17/2018 at 2:15 AM, LeanderMomma said:

Fascinating!  I did not know that The Woodlands was a township.  Or that all of those schools were part of the Conroe ISD.  It sounds like they are doing as much as they can to accommodate growth at this time.  How many kids are in the band at TWHS?  How about CP?  

 

We were around 320 this year, although I think that includes guard (40ish guard members) and props. CP I think was around 300, but that is a bigger guess on my part.

[david19c]

Sorry to revive a dead thread, but I just realized that LISD (Lewisville or Leander) has won the State Marching Championship every year since 2010. Very funny that their names are the same.

[meursault]

  On 11/22/2018 at 5:41 PM, david19c said:

Sorry to revive a dead thread, but I just realized that LISD (Lewisville or Leander) has won the State Marching Championship every year since 2010. Very funny that their names are the same.

try since 2006 - Marcus had an 8 year winning streak! Then FloMo, then Vista.

[david19c]

I was also talking about both 6A and 5A competitions too.

 

2010: Marcus

2011: Cedar Park

2012: Marcus

2013: Vandegrift

2014: Marcus

2015: Cedar Park

2016: Flower Mound

2017: Cedar Park

2018: Vista Ridge

 

Pretty cool that two school districts have been at the top of the state for so long.

[LeanderMomma]

  On 11/23/2018 at 1:42 AM, Magma31651 said:

Pretty cool? I find that the fact that despite the extremely large depth of marching bands that Texas has, only two districts have won both 5a and 6a championships, boring and repetative. I'm ready for a new district to shine

Well it’s Leander ISDs first time to take 6A so I consider that fresh and not boring at all!

[natertater21000]

  On 11/23/2018 at 1:42 AM, Magma31651 said:

 

Pretty cool? I find that the fact that despite the extremely large depth of marching bands that Texas has, only two districts have won both 5a and 6a championships, boring and repetative. I'm ready for a new district to shine

Boring as a spectator sure, but as a music educator? The level of consistency in the success of the two districts is incredible to watch and its something I definitely don't want to see end.

[Samuel Culper]

  On 11/23/2018 at 1:42 AM, Magma31651 said:

Pretty cool? I find that the fact that despite the extremely large depth of marching bands that Texas has, only two districts have won both 5a and 6a championships, boring and repetative. I'm ready for a new district to shine

As a member of the Vista Ridge community I consider getting our first ever competition win of any kind to be millions of miles away from boring.

[principalagent]

It's not Leander, Lewisville, or for that matter, North East ISD's problem that their collective dominance is boring or repetitive. They can't do anything about it except tone it down, which obviously isn't an option.

[Mmalpica9]

  On 11/23/2018 at 1:42 AM, Magma31651 said:

Pretty cool? I find that the fact that despite the extremely large depth of marching bands that Texas has, only two districts have won both 5a and 6a championships, boring and repetative. I'm ready for a new district to shine

The ability to put together winner shows year by year is far from boring... It is called consistency and I'd say mastery. These schools have been able to create programs that attract more students every year. Middle schoolers are counting the days until they can join their HS programs so the HS programs are well fed. Is not repetitive, is just a natural result of the efforts done over the period of years.

 

I'm sure other school districts will arrive sooner or later, they just need to take the steps in the right direction

[SHP]

  On 11/23/2018 at 1:42 AM, Magma31651 said:

Pretty cool? I find that the fact that despite the extremely large depth of marching bands that Texas has, only two districts have won both 5a and 6a championships, boring and repetative. I'm ready for a new district to shine

 It doesn't work like that. For one, you're ignoring the depth and level of these programs and the hard work they are putting into it. They are up there for a reason, not because they got money, or because they have props. They're there because they're working their butts off musically and in marching, if any other School/District took on the work these districts put in it would be no question that they would be up there too. Secondly, I don't see how seeing a winning show can be boring, it's literally the best show in the state.

[Jeffrey L. Gorman]

  On 11/27/2018 at 7:00 PM, Lej said:

 It doesn't work like that. For one, you're ignoring the depth and level of these programs and the hard work they are putting into it. They are up there for a reason, not because they got money, or because they have props. They're there because they're working their butts off musically and in marching, if any other School/District took on the work these districts put in it would be no question that they would be up there too. Secondly, I don't see how seeing a winning show can be boring, it's literally the best show in the state.

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. 

[LeanderMomma]

Vista Ridge has a really cool new video up. There were a bunch of band members who wore go pro cameras during their encore performance at the last football game and someone mashed all of the footage up together in one montage of the entire show. It’s excellent to watch!

 

[Band Is Great]

Hello there. I'm new to this forum and had to create an account so I could chime in.

 

Let's not get (1) "The ability to put together winner shows year by year is far from boring" confused with (2) performing a winning show created by someone else.

 

This year, no doubt, Vista Ridge was the hottest band on the circuit. They brought it - hands down. They were, BY FAR, the most improved band in the state - culminating with the 6A state win.

 

But lets remember where show themes come from. They are either (1) original - completely original or somewhat original or (2) a rehashed version of someone else's originality.

 

VR's show was very tightly copied from Hendrickson's 2015 "Lost" - from the spinning compass right down to Amazing Grace. Not to mention the version of "Lost" the Boston Crusader's did in 2018 - again, right down to Amazing Grace.

 

Great ideas never die away, they just get recycled - or in some cases sold to other bands to redo on their own.

 

VR marched their socks off - don't get me wrong, it was spectacular. I am not hating on VR. I loved their show each time I saw it.

 

But to put those bands in the same category as bands who create winning shows year after year is a stretch. Let's not forget VR's 2017 sled dog race show. Just an overall bad idea.

 

Having the creativity to come up with a great fresh show idea every year is a rare talent - most bands don't have that luxury.

 

If you want to see a recent example of bands buying/stealing/reusing someone's else's originality, take a look at Hendrickson's 2017 show "Just Another Brick". This show was highly original and creative.

 

Go to You Tube and search "2018 high school band just another brick" and see how many high schools took Hendrickson's originality and recycled it just 1 year later.

 

On the alter of originality, I must confess that someone told me about the "brick" story - so it wasn't originality on my part. I just thought it was a perfect story for my post.

 

Thanks for letting me chime in.

[Samuel Culper]

  On 12/17/2018 at 7:43 PM, Band Is Great said:

Hello there. I'm new to this forum and had to create an account so I could chime in.

 

Let's not get (1) "The ability to put together winner shows year by year is far from boring" confused with (2) performing a winning show created by someone else.

 

This year, no doubt, Vista Ridge was the hottest band on the circuit. They brought it - hands down. They were, BY FAR, the most improved band in the state - culminating with the 6A state win.

 

But lets remember where show themes come from. They are either (1) original - completely original or somewhat original or (2) a rehashed version of someone else's originality.

 

VR's show was very tightly copied from Hendrickson's 2015 "Lost" - from the spinning compass right down to Amazing Grace. Not to mention the version of "Lost" the Boston Crusader's did in 2018 - again, right down to Amazing Grace.

 

Great ideas never die away, they just get recycled - or in some cases sold to other bands to redo on their own.

 

VR marched their socks off - don't get me wrong, it was spectacular. I am not hating on VR. I loved their show each time I saw it.

 

But to put those bands in the same category as bands who create winning shows year after year is a stretch. Let's not forget VR's 2017 sled dog race show. Just an overall bad idea.

 

Having the creativity to come up with a great fresh show idea every year is a rare talent - most bands don't have that luxury.

 

If you want to see a recent example of bands buying/stealing/reusing someone's else's originality, take a look at Hendrickson's 2017 show "Just Another Brick". This show was highly original and creative.

 

Go to You Tube and search "2018 high school band just another brick" and see how many high schools took Hendrickson's originality and recycled it just 1 year later.

 

On the alter of originality, I must confess that someone told me about the "brick" story - so it wasn't originality on my part. I just thought it was a perfect story for my post.

 

Thanks for letting me chime in.

 

I honestly have no idea what your point is here within the context of this thread, if not to take a crack at VR. (See your "hating" comment on the Iditarod show)

 

If you think that there should be some scoring difference for shows based on "originality", I think you could start a pretty lengthy discussion on that topic.  Again, why bring it up on this thread?  

[principalagent]

Are we really going to act like “lost and found” as a show concept, of ALL THE PLAYED OUT SHOW CONCEPTS, just magically showed up in 2015? Literally that theme is third to planets/space and America.

 

Pretty much none of these themes are original. Some band has done basically everything before. Even the ones you think are new, truly aren’t. There was more than one “brick” show in San Antonio finals in 2017.

 

Let Vista Ridge have their things in peace.

 

Also Iditarod slaps and nobody else can tell me different. The Battle on the Ice segment was one of my favorite moments of 2017 and please, everyone @ me about it.

[LeanderMomma]

  On 12/18/2018 at 12:22 AM, principalagent said:

Are we really going to act like “lost and found” as a show concept, of ALL THE PLAYED OUT SHOW CONCEPTS, just magically showed up in 2015? Literally that theme is third to planets/space and America.

 

Pretty much none of these themes are original. Some band has done basically everything before. Even the ones you think are new, truly aren’t. There was more than one “brick” show in San Antonio finals in 2017.

 

Let Vista Ridge have their things in peace.

 

Also Iditarod slaps and nobody else can tell me different. The Battle on the Ice segment was one of my favorite moments of 2017 and please, everyone @ me about it.

I thought Iditarod was an excellent show as well, and it certainly started the rise of Vista Ridge to the upper ranks that they enjoyed this year. They made finals at BOA DFW with that show in 2017, and did so with a VERY early report time after driving through the night after a football game. We knew last year that Vista was trending upward fast and they didn’t disappoint.

 

I’m not sure what the original poster’s intent is either. Perhaps a miffed Hendrickson student/parent? I hope not because I really respect Hendrickson.

[Rudedog34]

I don't believe the poster is hating on VR, at least I hope not. Especially if they are associated with Henny.

 

I think the poster is expressing their preference for original, new designs and music to go with it. VR blew the doors off with musicality and marching in 2018 and the poster conveys that. VR earned the accolades and well deserved.

 

As for Avon and Henny's "Brick" shows...2 totally different and original concepts.

 

Yes, with Gunderson & Duffy on staff at Henny they have had original and fresh designs and music to accommodate the shows. Unraveled, Lost, 3D, Just Another Brick. I would include Blueprints For Life, but from what I undertstand, it wasn't the 2018 show that was to be performed. I was told the original 2018 show was substituted with Blueprints when Gunderson and Duffy left the program.

 

Gunderson is now at Bowie. Duffy at D' Springs, is contracted to work with Henny through '19 I believe, but in what capacity? How original and new Henny's shows will be in the future will be determined by the vision of the new staff. They're young and hungry, BTW. I personally hope they keep with the Hawk trend and don't use recycled content. It's what makes them unique.

[abtwitch]

  On 12/17/2018 at 7:43 PM, Band Is Great said:

 

But to put those bands in the same category as bands who create winning shows year after year is a stretch. Let's not forget VR's 2017 sled dog race show. Just an overall bad idea.

 

If you want to see a recent example of bands buying/stealing/reusing someone's else's originality, take a look at Hendrickson's 2017 show "Just Another Brick". This show was highly original and creative.

 

Go to You Tube and search "2018 high school band just another brick" and see how many high schools took Hendrickson's originality and recycled it just 1 year later.

 

One of my good friends graduated from one of the high schools that "stole" Just Another Brick, they have nothing but respect for the band whose show they bought. In reality, the show designer probably put it up for sale and the band in question bought it because they can't afford their own show design team. North Lamar has used Tarpon Springs shows for a while now and are probably the strongest 4A band in the state (yes, I disagree with this years results, but that's another rabbit hole I'm not going into in this thread). Buying shows and playing them is not a new concept and was in no way a targeted attack at Hendrickson.

 

Also, liking a show is subjective. I and many others (as a few have stated) loved Iditarod.

[Imagine]

As far as having the same bands/school districts at the top be boring--I don't feel that way at all. While I loved having Vista Ridge smash their way into the top this year and find that to be incredibly exciting, I also love it when a band who is "always the bridesmaid, never the bride" makes it to the top. There are a number of bands who are always finalists but who never actually win or even make top 3. But you know their name and you know their shows and you know they're probably going to be a lock for finals every year. So you might think that's boring. But every year I always hope to see one of them (the bridesmaids) finally reach their goal of coming out on top. I know what it feels like to get so close you can taste it, but never actually reach your goal. So to me that's exciting to watch those same groups who put out excellence every year, strive just that much harder to get just thatmuchcloser to the medal stand. It's just a different kind of exciting.

 

And I also have to add that back in the days when Marcus was at the top of the heap every single year, I never found their shows to be boring. I remember watching in awe and just sitting back and enjoying the show. I knew everyone else was fighting for second place. But that didn't make Marcus's shows any less incredible and exciting to watch. 

[GreedyGreen]

  On 12/17/2018 at 7:43 PM, Band Is Great said:

Hello there. I'm new to this forum and had to create an account so I could chime in.

 

Let's not get (1) "The ability to put together winner shows year by year is far from boring" confused with (2) performing a winning show created by someone else.

 

This year, no doubt, Vista Ridge was the hottest band on the circuit. They brought it - hands down. They were, BY FAR, the most improved band in the state - culminating with the 6A state win.

 

But lets remember where show themes come from. They are either (1) original - completely original or somewhat original or (2) a rehashed version of someone else's originality.

 

VR's show was very tightly copied from Hendrickson's 2015 "Lost" - from the spinning compass right down to Amazing Grace. Not to mention the version of "Lost" the Boston Crusader's did in 2018 - again, right down to Amazing Grace.

 

Great ideas never die away, they just get recycled - or in some cases sold to other bands to redo on their own.

 

VR marched their socks off - don't get me wrong, it was spectacular. I am not hating on VR. I loved their show each time I saw it.

 

But to put those bands in the same category as bands who create winning shows year after year is a stretch. Let's not forget VR's 2017 sled dog race show. Just an overall bad idea.

 

Having the creativity to come up with a great fresh show idea every year is a rare talent - most bands don't have that luxury.

 

If you want to see a recent example of bands buying/stealing/reusing someone's else's originality, take a look at Hendrickson's 2017 show "Just Another Brick". This show was highly original and creative.

 

Go to You Tube and search "2018 high school band just another brick" and see how many high schools took Hendrickson's originality and recycled it just 1 year later.

 

On the alter of originality, I must confess that someone told me about the "brick" story - so it wasn't originality on my part. I just thought it was a perfect story for my post.

 

Thanks for letting me chime in.

I get that this is just your opinion, but I am failing to see the point you are trying to make and I can say with certainty that what comes through (intended or not) is saltiness at a particular group. I suggest you go read the BOA/UIL handbooks for judges. (I did this while I was bored in one of my lectures oops)

There is nothing that says originality is part of the judging criteria nor should it be. The marching arts has become such a large category of fine arts and as such has its own economic norms. Shows are bought and sold WAYYY more than you probably think and music is recycled 24/7 by composers.

I want to make it clear that I don’t think vista ridge had anything but their kids hard work on the field. (Also I can tell this is probably a Hendrickson student; go listen to CTJ 2014 and I bet you will be pretty shocked lol) It just proves my point that the marching arts is more than just coming up with original ideas, because ultimately there is a limited selection of music to choose from and only so many colors you can put on the field.

I suggest you go listen to the top 9 from San Antonio from 2012 onward and I bet you will find a multitude of similarities.

[Guest]

  On 12/22/2018 at 6:32 AM, GreedyGreen said:

I get that this is just your opinion, but I am failing to see the point you are trying to make and I can say with certainty that what comes through (intended or not) is saltiness at a particular group. I suggest you go read the BOA/UIL handbooks for judges. (I did this while I was bored in one of my lectures oops)

There is nothing that says originality is part of the judging criteria nor should it be. The marching arts has become such a large category of fine arts and as such has its own economic norms. Shows are bought and sold WAYYY more than you probably think and music is recycled 24/7 by composers.

I want to make it clear that I don’t think vista ridge had anything but their kids hard work on the field. (Also I can tell this is probably a Hendrickson student; go listen to CTJ 2014 and I bet you will be pretty shocked lol) It just proves my point that the marching arts is more than just coming up with original ideas, because ultimately there is a limited selection of music to choose from and only so many colors you can put on the field.

I suggest you go listen to the top 9 from San Antonio from 2012 onward and I bet you will find a multitude of similarities.

Indeed. Many great points made.

[GBMELLO]

Does anyone know if they still sell DVD's of the SMC?

[Mmalpica9]

  On 12/17/2018 at 7:43 PM, Band Is Great said:

Hello there. I'm new to this forum and had to create an account so I could chime in.

 

Let's not get (1) "The ability to put together winner shows year by year is far from boring" confused with (2) performing a winning show created by someone else.

 

This year, no doubt, Vista Ridge was the hottest band on the circuit. They brought it - hands down. They were, BY FAR, the most improved band in the state - culminating with the 6A state win.

 

But lets remember where show themes come from. They are either (1) original - completely original or somewhat original or (2) a rehashed version of someone else's originality.

 

VR's show was very tightly copied from Hendrickson's 2015 "Lost" - from the spinning compass right down to Amazing Grace. Not to mention the version of "Lost" the Boston Crusader's did in 2018 - again, right down to Amazing Grace.

 

Great ideas never die away, they just get recycled - or in some cases sold to other bands to redo on their own.

 

VR marched their socks off - don't get me wrong, it was spectacular. I am not hating on VR. I loved their show each time I saw it.

 

But to put those bands in the same category as bands who create winning shows year after year is a stretch. Let's not forget VR's 2017 sled dog race show. Just an overall bad idea.

 

Having the creativity to come up with a great fresh show idea every year is a rare talent - most bands don't have that luxury.

 

If you want to see a recent example of bands buying/stealing/reusing someone's else's originality, take a look at Hendrickson's 2017 show "Just Another Brick". This show was highly original and creative.

 

Go to You Tube and search "2018 high school band just another brick" and see how many high schools took Hendrickson's originality and recycled it just 1 year later.

 

On the alter of originality, I must confess that someone told me about the "brick" story - so it wasn't originality on my part. I just thought it was a perfect story for my post.

 

Thanks for letting me chime in.

Hi:

 

I'm as well struggling to understand what your point is. I just watched Hendrickson 2015 "Lost" show and I think you are using the phrase "tightly copied" a little bit too liberally. Indeed they share the word "Lost", the compass and that's pretty much it (I couldn't find "Amazing Grace" on it but probably I need to re-check it). The drills, the pace, the emotions are very different and unique on each show. A good exercise could be to watch the shows back to back.

 

About original ideas... stories are always talking the same ideas. This is the very concept of archetypes from Carl G. Jung. If you review the many shows you'll always will find similar stories: exploration, discovery, heroism, space, opposites,  dreams, fears, struggle, conviction, circus, great classics, arabian, spanish, russian, etc. Just this year 2 shows talked about "Blueprints". Amazing Grace probably is one of the most used pieces of music on marching shows but the same can be said about other pieces like "Rhapsody in Blue" (most schools with a very good soloist will try this as Hendrickson did this year, this guy was amazing). Those are pieces that are natural generators of emotions. The important thing on marching band, in my opinion, is execution not originality. The very same piece can generate very different emotions if they are interpreted by different performers. The way one piece of music follows the next one also generate unique reactions. For instance, the great finale of Vista's show is not Amazing Grace but the return to the "Lost" theme in a triumphant way as a finish of a build up that started probably at the beginning of the ballad in the second movement. The way both bands told the story about being lost and back is very different.

 

I wouldn't categorize bands for it's ability to create "original" shows (as I mentioned this claim is very hard to prove... however I believe "Iditarod" was a very fresh idea probably not too much explored in the past. I think your point in favor of originality clash with your opinion on Iditarod. It may have flaws in execution but I believe it was a pretty original idea) but I'd categorize them by their ability to generate new reactions using known elements. I saw the mountains of Iditarod show being re-used for one show on BoA San Antonio. This doesn't demerit the actual show given by the band. If a band has to buy a known show due to lack of resources, that does not demerit them. I'd judge them by their ability to take that and provide an amazing performance that will put emotions to the crowd. That will take them apart as Vista Ridge did on 2018.

[Rudedog34]

LOL

Both "Blueprints" shows were from schools in the same district a few miles from each other. Go figure.