The Central Band and Choir competed at Districts on Monday, March 31, 2025. The Central Orchestra competed on Thursday, March 27, 2025. All three groups did superb with all of them receiving superiors as rewards, which is the highest award given.
Districts is an opportunity for students to be adjudicated and given tips. As Senior Luke Auer said, “I’ve always liked districts because they give me a chance to hear feedback from a professional and they give me the chance to get better.” Auer is the Band President and has been in band all four years. Music has provided many opportunities for students such as Freshman Trinity Duncil who stated “I started music when I was three. I have played a bunch of different instruments. And I like the music department because there’s a huge community, very nice people, and you always feel involved with so many activities and opportunities to make friends in music.”
The band played two of their finest pieces. The first one was Into the Arctic by Brian Balmages. This is a piece that sounds like winter. From the quiet of winter to the windy blizzards, this song describes all phases of winter. The band also played Great Locomotive Chase. Now, this song isn’t the theme song for Laurel as you might expect, but it is really describing a train trip. With the train getting started and the rhythmic click, to the slowing down and the train letting off steam. There is also a sight-reading part of the adjudication where students get to play a piece of music that they haven’t seen before. This had mixed reactions with Auer not really liking it as he said, “I didn’t really like the sight-reading due to (in my opinion) it being a little easy.” Expectation and reality was a lot different with Freshman Trinity Duncil saying “I thought I’d be a lot rougher than it actually was, but the judges were actually really nice.”
The choir sang In this Ancient house (Momoshiki Ya) by Ruth Morris Gray. This is a Japanese song about a house. They also sang Jonah by John W. Peterson. This song is about the biblical book of Jonah but adds rhythm. Choir got a few tips on rhythms. Small things that make a huge difference. The orchestra played Alla tchaicowsky, which is a song that contains a bunch of compositions by Allah Tchaicowsky.
Overall, Districts provided the band, choir, and orchestra with a plethora of helpful tips. Districts isn’t the last trip the Music Department takes, as they are getting ready to go to Music in the Parks. This is many of the kids’ favorite parts as Auer says “My favorite part about band are the trips that I get to take through the music program. I have had so many fun experiences through the music program and I think that everyone has enjoyed them as much as I have.”
