h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm always proud of both of my daughters - they're both *very* good students, with many talents, and have accomplished much over the years. This is just the most recent accomplishment that stands out.

A few weeks ago, Shorty auditioned for District Band, just as she did last school year, but this year she was accepted. The competition is stiff, with band students from all the high schools in 3 counties competing for a very limited number of seats, and the audition music is very challenging. They only accept about a dozen flutes from this 3 county area, so this is a noteworthy accomplishment in and of itself. ( pun not inteneded! ) That Shorty was accepted is in no small part due to having an excellent flute teacher, but also due to her own persistence in practice.

This past weekend they held the district band festival itself, beginning with re-auditions for the culminating concert seating and to determine which students would be eligible to attend the Regional Band Festival. Imagine my surprise when Shorty called me after the auditions on the first day of the festival to let me know that she'd come through the auditions with 2nd chair overall! This meant that even though she was originally much further down in the seating and therefore in the 2nd flute section (which plays different music from the 1st flute section, so she'd still be in the second flute section - no time to learn all new music with the first concert only a day away!), but rather than being seated further down in the 2nd section, she would now be 1st chair in the 2nd section. ( I know, the chair shuffling confuses me a little too, but that's the best I can explain it.)

Anyhow, because she ended up in 2nd chair overall, she became eligible to attend the Regional Band Festival next month. All new music to learn, and they will be re-auditioning for seating once they arrive at that band festival. ( I'm not sure what the next band festival will be that they're audtioning for at the same time, whether it's All Eastern or All States band, but we'll take things as they come. She wasn't even expecting to get this far!) She was trying to decide whether or not to even accept the invitation to attend the Regional Band Festival though, because it's being held the exact same weekend as she is scheduled to take the SATs (college board exams), so she will have to reschedule her exams. As soon as her local band director found out the results of her audition, he congratulated her and told her that if she didn't go to regionals she'd flunk band... Turns out this was an empty threat, because Shorty says her band grade actually comes from the Orchestra instructor!

Backing up a bit, Lord Scott and I went to their second concert this weekend (on Valentine's Day), and it was amazing. The most amazing thing to me at this concert was that I was actually able to *hear* all the music distinctly, even the tiniest nuances of percussion. In the past, all I've really been able to hear has been muddy generic musical sound, and the loud stuff that drowns out everything else. I always thought it was just me, that my ears had just become so bad that I could barely distinguish one instrument from another, much less discern distinct parts being played. The high school concerts were always enjoyable, but simply not the kind of amazing experience this was.

Now it doesn't hurt one bit that once they reach this level of competition, there is usually little difference in the accomplished skill level of these student musicians, nor did it hurt that the guest director was Mark Camphouse. [From the small department, Camphouse is the Band director from Radford University, which Amy+ attends. We were all surprised to find out that he would be the guest director for this band festival, and since Amy+ has sung his praises since she first worked under his direction at Radford, so Shorty was thrilled to have the opportunity to work under his direction.]

However, the high school where the festival was held has an acoustically perfect auditorium, made even more remarkable by the fact that this was Northern High School, which is in Dillsburg, which is sort of out in the middle of nowhere in York County, Pennsylvania. ( Dillsburg is the place that drops a giant dill pickle on New Years Eve! )

It would seem that Mark Camphouse is an accomplished composer in his own right. One of the pieces the band played was written by him. He explained that it was based on and insprired by the piece they played immediately previous to his piece and I thought to myself that it would be a mere shadow of the inspiration, but no, it was breathtakingly lovely, and better than it's inspiration.

As yet another aside note, they *really* know how to get parents to part with their $$ at these band festivals. The County Band Festival only sells CD's of the performance, but at this district band festival, as soon as you walk in, they have a table of T-shirts available, printed with the names of all the band members. After you decide to buy a T-shirt you find out they're also willing to put an imprint on the sleeve with your child's name and instrument. (for a fee of course!) Really spiffy looking and of course that gives your kid something special to wear to future band festivals, so of course you want to buy one of those. As you're standing there at the table waiting for your T-shirt to be imprinted, you notice that they also have plaques already made up with your child's name and instrument, so in a crazy proud parent moment you buy one of those too. Then you move on to the next table where they're selling CD's of the concert and 8X10 glossies of the entire band on stage with the directors. Can't pass up those either. We're such suckers. If they sell all this at the District Band Festival, how are they going to top that at the Regional Band Festival?!

Anyhow, congrats Shorty, and I look forward to the Regional concert!

Yay!! I so happy for Shorty! You have a right to be proud Lady Scott!

Lil 'sis. PROUD

I still have recordings of the regional, district, and all-state concerts that I sang in when I was in high school.

What great memories Shorty will have.

And, yes, you really *do* have to buy all that stuff, especially the recordings.

Congrats, Shorty!

(Great pun, Lady S)

Some of the best memories I have of my schooldays come from the time I spent in the school band I thoroughly recommend encouraging a child to learn a musical instrument and get involved in a band, orchestra, or some kind of musical ensemble.

Shorty's really going to enjoy these experiences

Congrats to Shorty! (though I still don't understand all that 'musical chairs' stuff!)

I always wanted to be able to play an instrument as a youngster, but I soon discovered that I have not a musical bone in my body.

Gosho, Shorty's been taking flute lessons/playing in the school band since she was in 4th grade, same as Amy+... So that makes 8 years of lessons and band for Shorty and 12 years for Amy+!

I just realized, what we paid for all the memorabilia at the concert this weekend is small change compared to what we've spent on lessons and flutes over the years (each of them has a beginner flute and a significantly more expensive intermediate flute - the step up to the intermediate flute wasn't coordinated so that Shorty could start learning on Amy+'s beginner flute - plus we bought a piccolo for Shorty too).

Yes Paul - I do believe after having made that kind of investment in their instrumental education, we're *obligated* to buy absolutely everything they offer with our kid's name on it - purchasing a recording of the concert goes without question, of course!

Well done!

Unfortuntlly, all desire to play musical instruments was ruthlessly crushed in primary school by manditory recorder lession, which myself and my siblings spent years avioding

Heh, maybe she'll decide to dump the idea of becoming a and come down here and major in music instead.

recorder lessons, Saintly/Evil One?



I had them too, only in my school they were called flutaphones.

Well done to Shorty

Thi sis very splendid indeed. I hope she enjoys it all to the fullest extent. When she's older she'll have all this fun and excitement to look back on

I only got to take instrument lessons from being 11-14, then I had to give them up as we moved. I enjoyed percussion and recorder and a brief dalliance with the cornet, as well as being a very bad voiced member of the school choir. All good memories