Someone once said that being a part of something special makes you special, and the Central Symphonic Band is exactly that. This past Friday, March 20, the symphonic band was involved in the Festival Band Competition at Bradley Central High School. Their performance consisted of three songs: “The Avenger March” by Karl King, “Yorkshire Ballad” by James Barnes, and “Energetikos” by Gary P. Gilroy. Each song is very difficult and unique in its own way, and the band decided to take on this big challenge.

“I knew we were really prepared. I was a little nervous going into the week of Festival because of all the snow days, but the band pulled through that week, and we did very well,” said band director Joshua Bloodworth.

After hours and hours of practice at home and at school, the work finally came became play, and the band received superior ratings in their stage performance.

“I thought we played very good. After all those hours of practices, they were completely worth it in the end,” concluded Mr. Bloodworth

Another part of their competition was sight-reading. In this part, each band was given a random sheet of music, and they had to look over it for six minutes and then play it perfectly. The Central Symphonic Band received superior ratings in sight-reading, and the judge noted that is was the best performance he had heard all weekend. Overall, the band had a very successful day during their competition.

“Honestly, it was really fun and educating for me [because] I’m a freshman. I have so much more to learn about band and Festival. It was really exciting [because] I got to play music and be with my friends,” stated Josh Sizemore.

You can check out the plaque the band won at Festival in the front office. We at the Central Digest congratulate Mr. Bloodworth and the Central Symphonic Band on their win. You can listen the recordings of their competition below.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8DYIreUBv2sNUhBZFVJT242d3M/view

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8DYIreUBv2sWWVvaHcyOU8xN1E/view