The Hope High Band took its Juno show to Memphis Saturday for the Bands of America competition held at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis, winning the silver medal in the 1A Class Preliminaries. Director Chris Davis, as his choice for the Inked Threads Band Performer of the Week picked Juan Arroyo, in his second year in the group, who plays the Sousaphone solo that brings so much applause.
The band performed Friday at halftime at Hope’s homecoming game, then embarked from Hope in a bus at around 2:45 a.m. Saturday morning so as to reach Memphis for its performance. It had not been known until last week, when the Bands of America invitation arrived, that Hope would be playing in the Home of the Blues and the Birthplace of Rock and Roll. Asked how this quick turnaround was accomplished, Davis simply said, “It happened.”
Davis assessed the band’s Saturday performance and commented on what it gained from the Memphis trip. “By no means was it our best run we've ever had. We were missing a few kids, and that's okay, because we wanted to go for feedback. And that's our mentality for every contest … and we got great feedback that we're going to start applying it before state. But we ended up getting second place in class A, which is a big deal.”
The band got to take in a performance by the Gold medal winner, Murray High School of Murray, Kentucky, a band that has regularly won state championships. Davis said, “They're top six, top seven, but they're fantastic. And our kids got to see them perform at such a high level. They said ‘Wow, we can do that too.”
Photos from the contest can be seen on the Hope High Band Boosters’ facebook page.
Arroyo, when asked to sum up the experience of being in Hope High’s band said, “It's been an overall positive experience. There's been ups and downs, but our band has been normally getting through it pretty well.”
Concerning what it is like to play a tuba solo and be the center of audience attention during shows, Arroyo said, “It's kind of nerve wracking, but with enough repetitions and practice, it gets me through the show. I can play it pretty well now.”
This Saturday, Hope High will compete at the Power Band Classic in Lake Hamilton. As Davis described it, “It’s a prelims-finals contest,” meaning the band will perform once and be judged in preliminaries. If it achieves high scores, it may be invited to perform again later in the day in a finals competition.
The remainder of the Hope High Band’s schedule for contests is as follows:
· October 12: Power Band Classic at Lake Hamilton High School.
· October 19: Razorback Marching Invitational at Arkansas High School.
· October 22: Region 2 Marching Assessment at Arkansas High School.
· October 26: Paragould-McDonald’s Marching Invitational at Paragould High School.
· November 5: State Marching Contest at War Memorial Stadium.
