Concert band takes fifth at state contest

The Sisters High School Concert Band took fifth place at the 2002 Oregon School Activities Association State Music Championships on Thursday, May 9.

The event was held at the Oregon State University LaSalle Stewart Center.

Thirteen bands from 3A high schools around the state were eligible to perform at the state festival. The Sisters band achieved eligibility for the third straight year through its performance at the Capital Conference Band Festival, where it was awarded first place and received superior ratings.

"Getting invited to the state festival on an annual basis is a prestigious measure of the work our students are doing," said band director Jody Henderson. "Once meeting the qualifying criteria, our goal in attending is simply to play the best we are able to do."

After performing their prepared program, each band participated in the sight reading portion of the event. The bands were asked to play a selection of music which they had never seen before. They were required to play it straight through, without stopping, the best that they could.

"This is always the most nerve-testing part of a festival," Henderson said. "We spend a lot of lime, and have had great success, in refining, perfecting and working toward making what we already know sound even better.

"Sight reading a piece of music for the first time is far from our normal work routine. The students and I made it through the piece okay, but everyone was consumed by its technical demands to an extent that our performance wasn't as musical as we would have liked."

The closing ceremony of the event emphasized participation. After everyone was reminded of the honor of simply being at the festival, the five top ranking bands were announced.

"I am very proud of the students," Henderson said. "They have played so well this year in other performances that the goal most significant to them was to perform at a level that they know they're capable of. Seeing them reach that goal will be a long lasting memory."