The San Saba Golden Armadillo Band recently performed in the UIL Region 32 Concert and Sightreading Contest at the Lago Vista Performing Arts Center. The bands performances earned them a first division rating from all judges in both areas of concert and the sightreading. These performances combined with their first division performance during marching season earned the band the coveted Sweepstakes award from UIL. This is equivalent to a district championship in all areas of band.
The contest is formatted as follows: the band has to prepare a concert march and two other selections from the prescribed music list and perform a mini concert of the three pieces of music. The judges then give the band a division rating of 1-5 on their performance of the three pieces. We aim for a first division "superior rating" which is the best that you can get. Following their concert, the band must perform a piece of music that they have never seen before. This is called sightreading. The sightreading process is very intense and demands a high level of focus. The director is given seven minutes to explain to the band a brand new piece of music that they have never seen or read before. The seven minutes of teaching the music is broken into two sections: a general explanation period that lasts 4 minutes and a summary explanation period that lasts 3 minutes. The students are allowed to only listen to details that the director gives and finger through their parts without reproducing a sound. Once the seven minutes are up, the band must perform the music for the judges to the best of their ability. The judges then assign them a division rating of 1-5 for their performance of the new piece.
We are so blessed to have the amazing students that we have in our program. They worked really hard and to perform and they did a fantastic job. Their performances were incredible and made everyone proud. This marks the seventh sweepstakes award in school history.
We are most definitely excited about the students accomplishments and the future of the band program. Please join us on May 18th for our spring concert. This concert will showcase every band in the San Saba ISD Band program from 5th grade beginners to the high school competition group. More information about that concert will be revealed closer to the date.