by Wesley Wright
LPS Orchestra Booster Club President
The LPS Middle School Concert Band performed at the WTSBOA Memphis Area Concert Festival on March 5th. The students played two pieces that they prepared over the months of January and February, “Through the Storm” by JaRod Hall and “Mad Dash” by Timothy Lost. The students also took part in sight reading. During the sight reading process, students have six minutes to learn and perform a piece without actually making a sound. The middle school concert band received superior ratings (the highest possible rating) from every judge in every caption and sub caption. Receiving this honor from each judge means that the middle school band received the American School Band Director Association (ASBDA) Award of Distinction for the first time in school history. This is the highest award a band can receive. Last year, only six middle school bands in the state of Tennessee received this accolade.
The LPS High School Concert Band also performed at WTSBOA Memphis Area Concert Festival. This group of performers played grade 4 music (which is considered to be advanced high school level) with only freshmen and sophomores. In its first year as a separate performing ensemble, the high school concert band received a superior rating in their prepared performance and an excellent rating in sight reading.
Several band students took part in the Memphis Area Solo and Ensemble Festival held at Elmore Park Middle School. The LPS middle school and high school band represented our school with pride, receiving an overwhelming amount of superior and excellent ratings from judges.
Both the middle school and high school students in the LPS Band represented our school with pride, demonstrating great focus, self-discipline, and flexibility.
The LPS Band is now preparing for its final concert of the year, the “Blast from the Past” Spring Concert on April 30th at 7:00pm in the LPS high school gym.
