- Granbury ISD
- 2015-16 School Year
Return to Headlines
GHS BAND POSTS STRONG PERFORMANCES IN DeSOTO
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.

A complete schedule for all band activities can be
found at www.granburyisd.org/ghsband.
Links to Related Information:
Previous News Articles:
- 10/5/2015: Band Marches to Finals at Midlothian Contest
- 10/2/2015: GHS Band to Begin Month of Marching Contests
- 9/28/2015: Middle School Bands Perform at Halftime Show
- 9/24/2015: GHS Band Hosting Reindeer Run on November 28
- 8/28/2015: School Spirit High at First Pep Rally
- 7/27/2015: GHS Pirate Band Ready for Summer Camp