Once a year, hundreds of bands from across the region gather to showcase their talents and represent their schools in the prestigious Bands of America competition. This year the Brahma band joined the ranks with all the others in this competition Friday, October 31, in the Alamodome. This is an event that the band trains for all season.
“Our preparations started way back in the summer.” band director Jim Ragsdale said. “Our kids put in a lot of time after school practicing. They been doing the same show for a while, so [they’ve got] a lot of repetition.”
This is not just any competition, it is the last in the bands’ marching season.
“Its the biggest competition we have all year,” senior drum major Craig Adams said. “Its [the] final time we get to play our show.”
Compared to other events that lead up to this, BOA is in a whole different league.
“The judging scale is different,” Ragsdale said. “It’s more based on show design and concept as opposed to execution so the judges of this competition are looking for different things then at the previous UIL competitions.”
Competitions always have challenges that come with them, and this year the bands size could be seen as one of those challenges.
“Judges see it as a disadvantage,” Director of percussion Jeremy Logan said. “But [we see it as] an advantage for us because nobody can hide by not playing.”
The size of the band, no matter how small, does not effect the amount of work students have put in to the show.
“We worked so hard and so long in the summer” Adams said. “We have about 300 hours total of rehearsal.”
The outcome or the opinion of the judges, in the end, can not take away the hard work and dedication all the people involved have put in to this years show.
