by Daniel Bowerly
Zach Howington and Galen Wilkinson have both been accepted to the Northwest Colorado Music Educators Honor Band to be held in Aspen, November 1-2. Students from Northwest Colorado submitted recorded auditions which were then judged by Instrumental Music Specialists and ranked according to tone, musicality and precision. Zach Howington will represent West Grand playing Trombone, and Galen Wilkinson will represent West Grand playing Tenor Saxophone.
The Northwest Colorado High School Honor Band will be directed this year by Rebecca Phillips, band director at Colorado State University.
Three West Grand High School Band students have also been accepted into the Honor Bands at the Western International Band Clinic which will be held in Seattle, Washington November 22 – 25.
Students from all over the Western United States submit recorded auditions which are judged by Instrumental Music Specialists and ranked according to tone, musicality and precision. The competition for the honor bands at the Western International Band Clinic is extremely high, with thousands of applicants applying for a few hundred positions.
West Grand Students who were accepted for this honor are Igor Bergman, Clarinet; Zach Howington, Trombone; and Ollie Bergman, Bass Clarinet.
The Western International Band Clinic is an opportunity for music students and band directors to learn from the finest conductors, composers and musicians in the world.
At WIBC there will be four honor bands, each directed by several famous conductors who will rehearse with them for 3 days to put on an amazing concert of outstanding music, some of which will have been written by the composers who these students will meet and work with while they are at WIBC. This will help them to become better musicians and better understand the art of musicianship. The honor band students will have special clinics with Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser, the most renowned motivational speaker in the music field. Our students are familiar with Dr. Tim – the West Grand High School band attends his workshops every year at Smoky Hill High School in Cherry Creek.
During WIBC, band directors have the opportunity to also learn from the same outstanding conductors and composers that the students will be exposed to. There will be clinics constantly throughout the day that focus on the challenges of teaching band in the public schools and specific techniques for serving our students with love and encouragement and making our bands sound better. The directors will also play in a “director’s band” which read through some of the best new music available for bands, often conducted by the composer. This exposure to other conductors and new literature is a valuable resource for all band directors.
Each night at WIBC students will attend concerts by high school and college bands that have auditioned and were selected to perform at this unique event. The concerts that our students attend will be A Percussion ensemble from Oak Ridge, TX; The Jazz band from North Bend, WA; A Symphonic Band from Wylie East HS, TX; The Wind Ensemble Central Washington University;
The Boston Brass and the WIBC Collegiate Honor Band.
On Monday, West Grand students will perform in the Honor Band Concerts which will be the highlight and finale of the weekend in Seattle.
West Grand is very proud of the accomplishments of these student musicians.
If you would like to donate to help with the expenses of this trip to Seattle, please contact Band Director Dan Bowerly or Taryn Edson at the WGHS office 970-724-3425.
