Two March Honor Bands!
Every year, the Penn Band runs two high school honor band events in the Winter months - The Palestra Honor Band and The Band Extravanganza(!).
Now that I've finally recovered from both events, I'm going to take a few moments to reflect on how much fun we had.
Saturday, March 9th, 2008 - we had over 60 high school students from over 20 high schools across the Greater Philadelphia Region (including PA, NY, and NJ) join us for a day of music and mirth. Things were going great.....UNTIL A PIPE BURST IN A NEIGHBORING REHEARSAL ROOM 10 minutes into rehearsal! But it was all good - despite the large puddle of water and the associated chaos, we had a great time. We played songs such as Crazy Train, Free Bird, Final Countdown, Our House, and The Great Escape, among others. The group performed at the Penn-Columbia basketball game that evening at the Palestra - Penn won! The kids were featured at halftime on center court. A great performance in front of a great crowd.
The Band Extravaganza(!)
Saturday, March 29th, 2008 - A much longer day with more to do! Almost 80 students were nominated to this ensemble, from over 30 high schools across the region. Now, we did have some problems with key absences, but in the "chaos" of readjusting, the students really shined. Hands down, musically, this was one of the best ensembles we've worked with to date. We played a challenging slate of music, including Red Skelton's Red's White and Blue March, Somewhere from West Side Story, and A Whiter Shade of Pale. We had the pleasure of having a wonderful guest conductor - Kevin Rodgers from the Creative and Performing Arts High School here in Philadelphia. We also had a special guest musician - Jeffery Barg (Penn 02'), who played the accordian(!) with the ensemble in the piece Lady of Spain. I am REALLY looking forward to hearing this concert CD! :)
Five Penn Band members (Kevin, Kyle, Ellen, Joe, and John - 'Top Brass") perform Penn songs for the crowd to open the concert. They did a fantastic job!
We had a horde of Penn Band members help with both events, and they really are the big reason all of the students had so much fun!
take it easy
Now that I've finally recovered from both events, I'm going to take a few moments to reflect on how much fun we had.
The Palestra Honor Band
Saturday, March 9th, 2008 - we had over 60 high school students from over 20 high schools across the Greater Philadelphia Region (including PA, NY, and NJ) join us for a day of music and mirth. Things were going great.....UNTIL A PIPE BURST IN A NEIGHBORING REHEARSAL ROOM 10 minutes into rehearsal! But it was all good - despite the large puddle of water and the associated chaos, we had a great time. We played songs such as Crazy Train, Free Bird, Final Countdown, Our House, and The Great Escape, among others. The group performed at the Penn-Columbia basketball game that evening at the Palestra - Penn won! The kids were featured at halftime on center court. A great performance in front of a great crowd.
The Band Extravaganza(!)Five Penn Band members (Kevin, Kyle, Ellen, Joe, and John - 'Top Brass") perform Penn songs for the crowd to open the concert. They did a fantastic job!
We had a horde of Penn Band members help with both events, and they really are the big reason all of the students had so much fun!
Pictures from the 2008 Band Extravaganza!
I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to the summer!take it easy
posted by Kushol Gupta at
5:14 PM
1 Comments:
I wish I could have heard Red Skelton's march.
Post a Comment
<< Home