October 13, 2015

 

 

 

The GHS Pirate Band overcame contest organizational issues with two strong performances at the DeSoto Marching Classic on October 10, 2015.

 

Tabulation errors by contest officials led to Granbury not being announced as a finalist, even though the marching ensemble actually placed sixth overall and earned the judges’ spot for top musical performance among bands in the competition class. The fall marching show “The Maze” features music from “Symphony No. 1” and “Symphony No. 2” by Samuel Barber.

 

“The prelims order was messed up when the contest director tried to do the tabulation by hand instead of using the spreadsheet,” said GHS band director Mark Eastin. “During my time in the tabulation room, I was told that an announcement of corrected prelims would be made during finals and that the caption award that we actually won would be taken care of. Unfortunately none of this happened.”

 

Although the band did eventually march at finals, judges were not aware of the miscue and only evaluated the ensemble with an exhibition critique.

 

“I am so proud of our performance from this weekend, and it's a true shame that the kids didn't receive the recognition they deserved and earned at this contest,” Eastin told parents. “This was a very deep contest with many very talented bands, and we competed with them head to head. I am also proud of how the kids handled the adversity of the moment and stepped it up in finals to give our best performance of the year thus far.”

 

DeSoto band director Delton Brown apologized for the errors. “Over the past four years, I have had the opportunity to witness your program grow not only in size but in maturity and quality of sound and in the area of execution of marching fundamentals,” he wrote in an email to Eastin. Brown promised to deliver trophies and communicate the errors to all band directors participating in the contest.

 

 

 

In addition to drum majors Braden Jumper and Emma McKelvain, also serving in band leadership positions are: color guard captain Kaily Reason; drumline captain Reagan Hall; section leaders Whitney Shearon (flute), Reagan Clarkson (clarinet), Sam Perez (saxophone), Matthew Johnston (trumpet), Brennan Ross (French horn), Fernando Barragan (low brass), and Aaron Morgan (tuba); drill captains Reece Ahler, Brynn Bednarz, Melaine Boleng, Gavin Clarkson, Shannon Cooke, Tiffany Henney, Kalvin Hughes, Saylor Jordan, Rayni Skaggs, Lily Thornton, and Cameron Weeks.

 

Eastin is assisted by Tahlequah Kirk, Acton Middle School directors John Morgan and Stephanie Bosch, and Granbury Middle School directors Michele Kahne and James Beeson.

 

The marching ensemble heads to the UIL regional marching contest on October 13 in Fort Worth. Following that, the band will participate in the Sam Houston State University Marching Festival on October 17 in Huntsville.

 

 

 

  

• Granbury High School
• Crossland Ninth Grade Center
• GHS Pirate Band