Every year the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, UTC, has an honor band composed of the best students from lower Tennessee, upper Georgia and Alabama.

This year the program consisted of over 130 students, 12 of which were from Central High School. On the first of the two day event, every student had to audition for chair placement, or to be put in order based on playing ability. Due to the large amount of students, they were split between two bands, the blue band and the gold band, based on UTC’s school colors. Each band began rehearsals later that day to get ready for their upcoming performances.

On the second day, both bands continued their rehearsals to prepare for their concerts. Rehearsal lasted for several hours in the morning, then took a break for lunch. The students were able to eat in UTC’s cafeteria so they could stay in the area and after lunch, the band rushed back in to rehearsals to fit in any last minute changes needed to be prepared for the concert that night.

“It was really fun to meet new people and play new music even though we only had two days to put it together,” shared Kymmy Stacks, percussionist in Central band and member of the honor band.

“Being in such a different setting and around new people was great because you heard so many things that are different than in regular band class,” revealed Georgia Teems, bass clarinet player who was a part of the honor band as well.

The piece “Five” was premiered at this concert, which was a major attraction for anyone in the area. This piece was composed by Kenyon Wilson, professor of low brass and music theory at UTC, and was written in tribute to the five soldiers who were killed in the Chattanooga shootings on July 16, 2015. The piece included sections to represent each of the men and even had an offstage brass quintet to represent the five missing men. 67 schools worldwide have already bought rights for the music and plan to play it in the near future, including the high school bands of Skip Wells and David Wyatt, two of the soldiers who lost their lives in the tragic shooting.