GISD Band Marches On

Marches On GISD BAND

Resiliency, Growth, and Continued Success

One of the many thriving Fine Arts programs at Gainesville ISD is the band program. Five years ago, the program went through a major overhaul, increasing the number of directors at Lee, GJH, and GHS in order to better serve the student needs. With the addition of band directors at every campus, the program has been able to successfully grow in numbers and earn an extensive amount of awards.

The program begins instilling basic skills in students at Gainesville Intermediate, where 6th grade students have the option of picking band as one of their electives. Karli Spangler, Intermediate band director, consistently recruits students into the program, which is evident by the typical annual enrollment of 100 students. These students would typically have a concert band competition in which to participate in the spring. However, this year they did not have this opportunity due to COVID restrictions. The band was still able to show off their talents at a live streamed Christmas concert and an adjudicated spring performance, at which they received excellent comments from adjudicator Bryan Ferrell. The intermediate band students were also able to compete virtually in the Pilot Point Solo and Ensemble Contest. They recorded their solos and submitted them to be judged.

Students were very successful and won many first division awards.

Retention of these band students as they transition to junior high is key. With numerous options for electives, GJH Band Director Jeff Hodges works diligently to maintain high interest in band for the 7th and 8th grade students. Junior high is a pivotal time, as students increase their musical skills and prepare for high school marching band. Just like all other programs, the Junior High bands were also deeply affected by the restrictions due to the pandemic. The socially distanced practices required at the beginning of the year created a significant challenge to the directors as they tried to

see and hear the students well enough to solidify strong fundamentals in posture, breathing, hand position, tone production and playing as an ensemble. However, there were many bright lights this year. In the fall, a record-setting 8 students qualified for the All Region Band. In UIL concert and sight-reading, recordings were submitted in the spring and the band was awarded a Superior Rating. Also, the Symphonic Band earned the highest rating in recent history at the Spring contest.

The high school band program is where the Redcoats truly begin to shine. The foundational skills of the previous 3 years set the high school bands up for success. With multiple bands, including the Redcoat marching band, jazz band, and concert band, there are practices and UIL competitions all year. For these reasons, the pandemic restrictions affected the high school band members the most. The band students and directors started the year off with many challenges due to COVID, which resulted in the marching band having only a small fraction of the rehearsal time that they would normally have to start the season. There were also strict guidelines on rehearsal times, student spacing, and even a delayed starting date for programs to begin working on their fall show. Due to UIL restrictions, the band could not begin putting the competition show on the field until the second game, when typically they begin August 1 and have the entire show on the field by that time. All of these circumstances, in addition to numerous quarantines, and several band students learning remotely, deeply affected the program.

The Redcoats struggled with discouragement due to the many setbacks. Yet, through it all, the Redcoats pulled out their third consecutive first division rating, and an appearance at the UIL Area Marching contest. During the second semester, the students were able to return to the band hall and had a successful spring season.

The Redcoats received first division ratings for their stage performance as well as their sight reading performance, giving them their second consecutive UIL Sweepstakes award. After the contest, both the Redcoats and the GJH bands had the honor of working with composer William Owens. Mr. Owens composed a new piece for the High School band entitled “Polar Lights,” and premiered the new piece along with performing other pieces that he wrote with both the Redcoats and the GJH band at their spring concert.

Looking into the future, the band program looks stronger and the numbers continue to improve. Due to the strong foundation established the past five years, the band students are destined to continue to thrive as they transition to a new Head Director and GJH Director following the retirement of Rutherford and the out-of-state move for Hodges.