Holst - Suite No. 1 for Military Band in E-flat I. Chaconne (SVHS 1989)

Suite No. 1 for Military Band in E-flat Major (Gustav Holst)
1. Chaconne
2. Intermezzo
3. March

I cannot believe how fortunate it is that I ran across this old band concert in a box of video tapes I was going through last summer before I moved out to Colorado. This was my freshman year (1988-89) at Smoky Valley High School in Lindsborg, KS, and for all of you who are not aware.... Lindsborg has proudly been a small central Kansas town that passionately supports music and the fine arts, and because of it, has had an amazing history of first-class music instructors.

One of the all-time greats, was Smoky Valley's band director from 1978 to 1990, Mr. Dan King. It is mind-boggling to think that a little 3A school who's total enrollment in 1988-89 was 221, could pull off a performance of Holst's Suite #1 for Military Band. It is surely a testement to the musical instruction we had growing up; from Jay Steinberg's ability to get the most out of beginning band students and pointing us in the right direction, to Dan King's inspiration -- making us want to be the best musicians we could be.

Please excuse the bizarre video effects. Not real sure what that is all about.

On a personal note, I was so lucky to have as a freshman that year, a senior class like 1989, who understood my passion for trumpet playing, and didn't make my life difficult sitting 2nd chair, in a sea of good senior players. It's funny the moments of pride that stick with you over the years.... one of my best moments in high school came early that freshman year, when Dan took the trumpet section into the choral room for seating auditions. We all had to play the same excerpt, and when it came to my turn, I nailed it to the wall. After hearing everyone, he tallied up the points and made the list. When he said, "Ok, first.... Andy Bishop" I about had a heart attack. When the trumpet section came back into the band room to re-join the rehearsal, we walked in to sit in our new order. I could remember everyone whispering amongst themselves when I sat down at first chair and everyone's eyes were on me. Such a great memory! As it turned out, the best senior trumpet player, Tony Garcia, was not in school that day. Mr. King auditioned him privately, and told me later that he felt I played the audition better, but that he thought it was important to have him sit principal chair for leadership purposes. I totally agreed that was the right thing to do, and Tony and all the other seniors sitting in the first trumpet section were very good to me.

BTW, I'm sure glad my hand postion and embouchure have come a long way since I was 15!

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Lindsborg Kansas
• Dan King
• SVHS Band