The 2011-2012 school year started off with a bang for the Ava Pride Band. Everywhere they went the band was met with challenges and left a success! Both as a band and individually the students of the Ava Pride Band had a fall to remember.
The successes started with their marching band show “Wicked.” Their first marching band festival Valhalla was at Parkview High School in Springfield on Oct. 1. The Pride received 6th place out of eight bands. There was only 6/10 of a point difference between the Pride and the 3rd place band.
Also at Valhalla the Pride received the caption award for Outstanding Drum Major.
The next week the band headed to the Ozark Mountain Marching Festival in Reeds Spring. This was another successful day for the Pride. In prelims the Pride got 4th place out of five bands, but received the wild card finals spot for having the next highest score in prelims classes A & B.
They then moved on to finals and blew the competition out of the water and moved up to 2nd place, the highest placing finals position the Pride has had to date.
The very next weekend, Oct. 15, the Pride went to its last marching band festival of 2011, the Maple Leaf festival in Carthage. This was a tough competition, but yet again the Pride pulled off a great performance. The Pride placed 2nd in class A preliminaries and received the caption award for Outstanding Auxiliary (the color guard section).
Then the Pride was one of the bands to move on to finals beating five bands bigger than Ava into the finals lineup.
In finals the Pride placed 9th against bands bigger than them, to wrap up a very successful marching band season!
After marching band was over the students of the Pride jumped right into preparing for district honor band auditions on Nov. 8 at Mountain Grove High School.
Ava had 22 auditions from 15 different students.
Congratulations to the following students for making one of the all districts bands:
District Jazz Band:
Jimmy Roffmann, tenor saxophone, 2nd chair; Brecken Lewis, trombone, 4th chair.
Honor Band (The Top Band):
Alisha Womack, clarinet, 13th chair; Jimmy Roffmann, baritone sax, 1st chair; Ed Roffmann, timpani, 2nd chair.
Concert Band:
Elizabeth Ferguson, piccolo; Kim Copeland, flute, 7th chair; Emily Armour, clarinet, 8th chair; Lacey Tucker, alto sax, 2nd chair; Jared Follin, trumpet, 6th chair; Brecken Lewis, trombone, 3rd chair.
After district auditions the six students quickly began preparing for State Band auditions. On Dec. 3, more than 1,000 students from across Missouri met at Hickman High School in Columbia to audition for the honor of participating in the top honor band in the state. Only one hundred and eight students are accepted into this elite ensemble.
Also, on this same day were auditions for the state jazz band.
Congratulations to the following students for auditioning for State Band:
Jimmy Roffmann, tenor and baritone sax jazz and concert band; Brecken Lewis, trombone for jazz band; Alisha Womack, clarinet for concert band; Ed Roffmann, timpani for concert band; Elizabeth Ferguson, piccolo for concert band; Lacey Tucker, 2nd chair alto sax for concert band.
Ava is honored to have one student make state band for 2012. Jimmy Roffmann made all-state band on both baritone sax (1st chair) and tenor sax (2nd chair). He will be performing with all state band on baritone sax.
The band will meet, rehearse, and perform at the Missouri Music Educators Association Conference held Jan. 25 through Jan. 28, 2012 at Tan-Tar-A Resort, Lake of the Ozarks. The only performance of the Missouri All-State Band will be at 12:30 p.m., Jan. 28, in Salon A of Marriott’s Tan-Tar-A Resort.
Ava High School also had two talented students journey to New York City to march in the Macy’s Great American Marching Band.
Honoring America’s finest high school musicians, this band was comprised of select students from each of the 50 states.
The 185 musicians were complimented by approximately 50 flags and dancers. The two students selected from Ava were Lacey Tucker on alto sax and Sarah Copeland in the band’s dance line. Stepping-off from Central Park, the band was cheered by the 2.5 million spectators lining the parade route. Arriving at Macy’s Herald Square, the band performed for celebrity hosts, a grandstand audience, and more than 50 million TV viewers watching the broadcast live on NBC.
“Overall this fall was one to put in the books,” said high school band director Sarah Sacco. “Big successes followed by more successes. We couldn’t be more proud of the semester the Pride had and cannot wait till the spring to keep the ball rolling,” added husband, Chris Sacco, who has charge of the middle school band and assists his wife with the high school Pride.
