Sisters band keeps conference title

Sisters High School's Concert Band continued its reputation for excellence and top performance by taking first place once again at the Capital Conference Band Festival on Wednesday, April 7.

This is the fourth consecutive year the band has taken first place honors.

In addition to first place the band earned high enough scores to be invited to the State Music Championships for the fifth consecutive year.

Sisters' band will be one of only twelve 3A bands participating at the state level on May 14 at Oregon State University.

Band director Jody Henderson told The Nugget that while there is not any requirement for what to play in competition, it is generally a good idea to offer a program which shows that the band is capable of playing contrasting styles of music.

The band this year played a suite of European folk dances to show that the students could play things at a faster tempo while maintaining a light and articulate style associated with music of that origin.

An arrangement of a chorale on a hymnsong of Philip Bliss was also included and offered many challenges in sustaining energy while playing at a very slow tempo across a full spectrum of volume levels.

A showcase piece called the "Star of Dreams" was also presented. The piece was composed as a musical depiction of the early settlement of Texas.

The composition is written in four continuous movements: "Fanfare," "Los Diablos Tejanos," "Fields of Blue" and "Stampede."

"This selection required the band to be able to mentally shift gears and make an abundance of very contrasting ideas work well together within the context of one piece," Henderson said,

The band scored a 77, 78 and an 81 from the judges at the competition. Two 75s are required for automatic state advancement.

The three adjudicators commented on the band's performance.

Todd Zimbleman, director of bands at the University of Oregon said, "You're playing with a very good sound and great musicality."

Michael Burch-Pesses, retired U.S. Naval Bandmaster and current director of bands at Pacific University said, "You have excellent tone and balance of sound... thank you for the fine performance."

Dave Mills, professional trumpeter and music composer and director of bands at Clackamas Community College, commended the band on excellent phrasing and expression.

Henderson said he's seen many groups of students step up and shine in performance situations and now expects his students to reach higher standards when under some pressure.

But Henderson admitted he'd never seen students step up quite like this group did.

"After two thirds of the way through their first song I knew they were performing well enough to earn the scores which would qualify them for the State Festival.

"Time seemed to stop as this group set a whole new standard for themselves right on stage. I was very proud to be there with them," Henderson said.