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Post by verysaxy on Oct 8, 2021 19:01:09 GMT -6
Do we know a lineup for Midwest this year? I’ve only heard of a few American HS bands attending this year so far, which include:
Vandegrift H.S., TX
Leander H.S., TX
North Hardin H.S., KY
And, correct me if I’m wrong, but… Fishers too? That one was just a rumor, the other three listed above are confirmed (COVID permitting).
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Post by josephbandfan on Oct 8, 2021 21:21:54 GMT -6
Just checked the website and it currently says Wakeland, North Hardin, Leander, Vandegrift, Keller, and Lockport township.
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Post by Samuel Culper on Oct 13, 2021 11:48:22 GMT -6
I know Stiles MS is going. Stiles is a feeder for Vista Ridge and Rouse.
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Post by supersound on Nov 17, 2021 7:46:37 GMT -6
I think Kellers wind ensemble is going.
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Post by verysaxy on Nov 17, 2021 20:37:29 GMT -6
Does anyone know if this event is streamed anywhere (free or paid)?
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Post by LeanderMomma on Nov 18, 2021 9:19:29 GMT -6
Does anyone know if this event is streamed anywhere (free or paid)? I don’t believe so but I really wish it was! Getting to see this thing is as hard as getting inside Fort Knox! |
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Post by mk72 on Nov 18, 2021 23:49:39 GMT -6
Ah, I still remember performing for Midwest auditions in both my middle and high school bands. Always been some of my most exciting (and nerve wracking) memories from band! Can't wait to see some of the videos of the invited concert bands once they come out in December!
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stix
Full Member
Posts: 29
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Post by stix on Nov 19, 2021 7:04:29 GMT -6
I believe Walsh middle school is attending as well, which is a Round Rock feeder school.
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Post by verysaxy on Nov 23, 2021 22:13:09 GMT -6
Does anyone know if this event is streamed anywhere (free or paid)? I don’t believe so but I really wish it was! Getting to see this thing is as hard as getting inside Fort Knox! Upwards of $200 a seat! |
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Post by LeanderMomma on Nov 24, 2021 14:30:47 GMT -6
I don’t believe so but I really wish it was! Getting to see this thing is as hard as getting inside Fort Knox! Upwards of $200 a seat! 😱😱😱 |
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Post by californiadreams on Nov 29, 2021 8:33:35 GMT -6
As someone who has attended Midwest in years past it is an incredible experience. I remember very vividly getting to see a middle school concert band and thinking, what are they feeding these kids? It’s insane.
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Post by hewhowaits on Dec 8, 2021 5:50:06 GMT -6
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Post by LeanderMomma on Dec 8, 2021 8:47:15 GMT -6
Sure would love to be there or even be able to pay to watch online. What an honor! And the amount of talented programs in Texas just keeps growing. And those Texas middle schools!! 😍😍😍 |
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Post by supersound on Dec 8, 2021 15:44:36 GMT -6
Cedar Ridge is sending a saxophone choir.
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Post by LeanderMomma on Dec 11, 2021 18:55:38 GMT -6
Leander and Vandy are live streaming their preview now!
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Post by itsjustband on Dec 12, 2021 22:31:26 GMT -6
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Post by LeanderMomma on Dec 13, 2021 8:06:10 GMT -6
That’s so disappointing for those kiddos!!! 😢😔 |
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Post by californiadreams on Dec 14, 2021 19:14:56 GMT -6
Tragic. Wishing them the best. |
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Post by hewhowaits on Dec 15, 2021 6:12:56 GMT -6
The Festival opens today. Since few (if any of us) will be attending, it's time to start obsessing over when they'll release the schedule for BOA events in 2022.
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Post by LeanderMomma on Dec 15, 2021 21:29:18 GMT -6
The Festival opens today. Since few (if any of us) will be attending, it's time to start obsessing over when they'll release the schedule for BOA events in 2022. its here, it’s here! 😍😍 |
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Post by Samuel Culper on Dec 17, 2021 22:20:05 GMT -6
It was announced tonight that the Sudler Flag had been awarded to Vista Ridge!
🙂
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Post by hewhowaits on Dec 18, 2021 7:22:23 GMT -6
It was announced tonight that the Sudler Flag had been awarded to Vista Ridge! 🙂 A well-deserved honor for a fantastic program. |
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Post by LeanderMomma on Dec 19, 2021 20:51:20 GMT -6
I just had to share what composer John Mackey said about Vandegrift and Leander after their Midwest performances this past week. ♥️♥️
Mike Howard and Robert Selaiden are transforming what high school bands can be. The stereotype of "Texas Bands" for years was "wow, that intonation was amazing! And... well, at least that." When I write a piece, I depend on music software, so I'm hearing essentially a robot performance while I work. I don't want that same experience from the humans. I've heard plenty of bands that can play clean. Everything is together, the intonation is flawless, and the kids seem to be playing exactly what they've been programmed to do. And nobody is smiling other than the face on the tuning app.
I've also heard some bands that play musically. They may be more rough around the edges technically, but I'd prefer a musical performance over a robotic performance. Very few bands at this age - some of these players are barely 15! - can do both. I don't know that I've ever heard high school bands that play this well technically (shout-out to the private lesson teachers, and the funding that makes that possible), and at this level of true mature musicianship, AND - and this was my favorite element! - also plays with the amount of viscerally contagious JOY that I experienced on Friday night from Vandegrift, and on Thursday afternoon from Leander. These kids are taught brilliantly, but they're not pushed in a way that causes them to lose any of they joy for what they're doing. They were all just SO DAMNED EXCITED to be there, to show what they could do. And HOLY CHRIST CAN THEY DO IT.
Texas bands have been the pinnacle of the profession as long as I can remember, but they're somehow getting BETTER. Leander and Vandegrift didn't play "high school band concerts." They gave us the kind of artistic and fun and beautiful and heart-wrenching and exciting and deeply-joyful performances that if you heard ONE of them on a subscription series at Carnegie Hall, you'd feel like it was worth the cost of the whole season. And we just got to hear TWO concerts like that, from two schools within a few miles of each other in the Austin suburbs.
I'm honored and humbled to have been part of each of these concerts, and to get to work in person with these students and teachers leading up to their performances. Their joy is contagious, and I left Midwest on a cloud of smiles. YES I SAID A CLOUD OF SMILES.
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Post by 70sguardchick on Dec 20, 2021 14:35:46 GMT -6
Congrats to the 2021 Sudler Shield winners - Large Division: Brownsburg HS Band, Indiana / Leander HS Band, Texas / Southlake Carroll HS Band, Texas / Wakeland HS Band, Texas; Small Division: Canton HS Band, Texas / Murray HS Band, Kentucky.
The Sudler Shield is the cap to an amazing season for Brownsburg!
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