MVHS Students Play In SUU Honor Band Event

By IAIN MCMURRAY

The Progress

Nine Moapa Valley band students were accepted into the Southern Utah University (SUU) Honor and Festival Bands. These well-known SUU music programs took place last weekend in Cedar City.

The program brought together talented students from four states, including Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and California. While the Honor Band was under the direction of the Director of Bands at SUU, Dr. Adam Lambert, the Festival Band had two guest conductors, Xun Sun and Laura Grantier.

The Honor Band program, held every year, gives talented musicians the chance to play in a more elite setting. Each year, students who want to audition are given a piece to prepare, record and submit for admission. Within a few weeks, they are notified whether or not they have made the cut into the program.

This year, there were roughly 260 auditions. These had to be whittled down to the final 179 participants between the two bands.

MVHS participants included Hunter Landini, Marcus Leavitt, Kayla Robinson, and Austin Robinson in the Festival Band. Hans Whipple, Sommer Blake, Preston Bushman, Tanner Western, and Iain McMurray played in the Honor Band. Lucille Leavitt was also accepted, but was unable to attend.

“I had lots of fun playing with other like-minded people who enjoy playing their instrument,” said Hunter Landini.

MVHS Senior Preston Bushman agreed, saying, “It was a super cool experience. The bands both sounded really good and in the end, it turned out really well.”

The bands first met on Friday, January 7 to begin the intensive rehearsals for the concert the following day. Both bands prepared four challenging pieces for the final concert of the event.

The concert was opened by the SUU Wind Symphony’s rendition of “Festive Overture” written by Dmitri Shostakovich and transcribed by Donald Hunsberger. The symphony was followed by the Festival Band, which played “Jubilee Prelude” by Philip Sparke, “King Cotton” by John Philip Sousa, “Fable” by Erik Morales, and “God of Our Fathers” written by George Warren and transcribed by Claude T. Smith.

The Festival Band was followed by the Honor Band, which played “Overture to ‘Candide’ ” by Leonard Bernstein, “Saturn Returns” by Micheal Markowski, “Irish Tune from County Derry” by Percy Grainger, and “Americans, We” by Henry Fillmore.

The event, however, featured more than just playing music. Students participated in a panel titled, “College 101” where they got the chance to ask SUU students all about college and music and learn more about future options in music.

Laura Grantier, former principal clarinetist of the Navy Band, performed for the students and also talked to them about available career paths in music.

According to Dr. Lambert, “The bands were outstanding. It’s hard to compare from year to year, but I honestly think this is one of the very best honor bands we’ve had. We chose some very intense literature and both bands came through.“

MVHS Band Director Ted Biggs said, “SUU Honor Band is a great opportunity for our exceptional music students to perform with the best players in four states under the direction of one of the most enthusiastic music educators of college music education. This is one of the best events available to our students, and I am so proud that so many students made it this year.”