By Andrea Genovese Soares (March 9, 2003)

The George Mason High School Concert Band was awarded the highest possible rating of "1" from all four judges at the two-day District 10 High School Band Festival this past Friday at J.E.B. Stuart High School.. 
 

About 50 band members, many having recently finished sports practices, hopped on the bus, at 6:30 PM, in their concert attire to arrive at J.E.B. Stuart High School. There, they had a chance to warm up and practice for a little less than an hour and a half prior to appearing before the judges. Then they played three very distinct prepared pieces, including a march by John Edmondson, Normandy Beach; a folk song, American Riversongs by Pierre La Plante, and Claude T. Smith’s Declaration Overture, a contrasting piece in and of itself

Playing the most challenging music they have ever  attempted, the George Mason Concert Band  received top ratings from every judge in Friday  night's District 10 High School Band Festival.  (Photo by Julie Wilhelm)

At this time, the band was evaluated on everything from posture and neatness of the uniforms to intonation, technique, balance, and interpretation. Besides rating bands, the adjudicators wrote comments in the judging sheets and record tapes in which they critiqued specific parts of all the pieces. 

After all this, the band was escorted to a different room, where another judge awaited to give the band members a piece of music they had never seen before. During this section of the competition the band was given a couple of minutes to clap out rhythms, finger parts on their instruments, and talk about dynamics, sound, and balance, but were strictly prohibited from playing their instruments until the actual start of playing the song for the first and only time. During this song, the adjudicator taped the performance and his comments also contributed to one of the ratings. 

During this festival, the same four judges listened to ensembles playing music ranging from grade III to grade VI, according to the difficulty of the repertoire. The GMHS Band played grade IV music, the highest grade it has ever played. It was the only band to get straight ones except for J.E.B. Stuart’s Concert Band on Friday. Some of the other bands in the competition included groups from Hayfield, West Potomac, and Falls Church High School. There were also eight other schools, most of which have large school populations and often send more than one band, in the competition.

"The GMHS Band rose to the occasion and played with superior ensemble quality," said band director Mary Jo Webster.