Reply to APS - Symphonic Band marching band requirement

Forum Index » VA Public Schools other than FCPS

Reply to "APS - Symphonic Band marching band requirement"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Tough titties to those of you who balk at your kid having to do marching band.

It is a way to ensure that kids are committed to both bands. Many kids think band is something they can skip out on. If you're serious about symphonic band, you would do marching band.

Marching band is treated like a varsity sport. It requires mandatory commitment.

I think what the previous WL band director did was brilliant! Win-win because both bands were great![/quote]

Except we don't do this for anything else. Kids can take AP calculus without being on the math team, AP physics without being on the robotics team, why this major extracurricular requirement for advanced band when there is nothing analogous for anything else? What is worst that could happen -- school wouldn't have a marching band? If not enough kids want to do it, maybe that is a fine outcome. [/quote]

Exactly. [/quote]
Kids are always expected to show up for music performances.  You don't take orchestra and skip the concert.  It should just be renamed in the course catalog as We Symphonic/Marching band.

Can someone explain why OP's French horn playing daughter can't play with the school orchestra?  That seems like the obvious solution.[/quote]

Does W-L have a symphonic orchestra?[/quote]

No the "orchestra" is just a strings ensemble.

Given the demands of her music commitments already and the homework time required (assuming she's taking a good number of intensified classes), she probably doesn't have time to commit to marching band anyway. So, picking a different elective sounds like the better choice. Other music options could be learning a string instrument with orchestra, learning guitar, or sing in chorus. [/quote]
Wow.  That's super disappointing for a school district as large and well resourced as APS.  Even my dinky high school had a real orchestra program.  They really need to shake up the leadership for the music program.  It's embarrassing.[/quote]

I went to an affluent Southern CA high School with a large, very well regarded music program and it was the same - band and a separate string orchestra. Seems pretty typical. Otherwise you are dividing up your band instrument players across two groups. Alternatively, you have one group that is a full orchestra but that seems less common at high schools. Might have to do it with a smaller music program which might be why your "dinky high School" did it that way.[/quote]
No.  My high school was less than half the size of WL, but had a 300-400 person marching band, depending on the year.  More than half the school participated at some point during high school.  And we were in New England where big marching bands weren't generally part of the culture.  The marching band director and football coach even had a truce where a number of varsity football players would march the halftime show in their football uniforms.

We had a super vibrant music program with a couple of award winning jazz bands, a full orchestra, and a symphonic band.  Most of the top musicians played in several groups.  (Joining orchestra as a wind, brass or percussion player required an audition). Perhaps it's because I'm from near Boston where there is a strong classical music culture, but I've never heard of a high school not having a full orchestra.  [/quote]

DP. I would say it's because you grew up in an area that had full orchestras. I'm from a small midwest town. High school of 1200, consistent award-winning marching band 135-140. Orchestra program not as strong and just strings. Maybe some percussion? At times, band members were pulled to go help out the orchestra.

[b]It's just done differently in different places.[/b][/quote]

+1 In Northern Virginia the norm is band and a separate strings orchestra. It's not some sign of a weak program, just the way it's been done here. If you want full orchestra offerings, it looks like you need to move to the Northeast.[/quote]
A 70 person marching band at a high school the size of Yorktown or WL is absolutely the sign of a weak program.  That's super undersized.  There just aren't enough kids participating in the music program to even have a quality symphonic band.  That isn't how it should be at a large, well resourced high school with so many motivated, high achieving kids.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics