Posted by Joe B. on November 16, 1999 at 13:41:38:
In Reply to: Re: Performance Major and Marching Band? posted by Joe S. on November 16, 1999 at 03:00:50:
I will agree that the situation you describe is common, but I want to brag on our town's successful relationship between the band and football team. First, when our band competes at contest, hundreds of townspeople, including members of the football team, go to see them, more than will usually travel to the football team's away games. The band has achieved such a high level of excellence that it has become a cool thing to be in the band, not a 'nerdy' thing, with some 15% of the school in the marching band. The football team has also acceded to allow the band boosters to run and take the profit from the concessions. Last year, we even had a football player who played in the half-time shows.
The key has been excellence and community presence. They are there to perform at elementary school carnivals, city parades, Christmas tree lightings, or anywhere else they are asked to play. I guess I respectfully disagree that the band should ONLY perform when and where they are the center of attention. The best band (attaching can opener to can of worms) in the United States, The President's Own, is seldom the center of attention when they play, but it has not kept them from being appreciated. I think this notion is like saying paintings should only hang in art galleries, not on the walls of my house where it is seldom fully appreciated.
If you want to see how it CAN work, come to Wylie, Texas, and see That Wylie Band in action.
P.S. I am just one of the townfolk who support the program. I'm not a teacher, director, member of the boosters -- I don't even have a child in the band program or the football team (yet!)