Brentwood Bands Abound at Victoria Performing Arts Festival

16 April 2015Linnea M, Allard ‘17

This Wednesday the Jazz Band, Advanced Rock Band, and Composition Band all headed to Victoria for the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival. Each band has spent all year preparing their songs. This was a very important experience for the bands, because it was the first performance of the year with an adjudicator. All performed in front of a crowd, and once finished, an adjudicator came and gave each band constructive criticism. This criticism is great to hear and contributes to our future improvements; though we have great teachers, sometimes you need to hear something from a second voice for it to stick. We spent our free time listening to other great bands and supporting fellow Brentonians. The Advanced Rock Band featured Claire A, Allard ’15 and Hannah C, Allard ’15 with amazing vocals; they really blew the crowd away. Following the Rock Band was Jazz Band. Our three piece repertoire included the songs “Chile Today”, “Hot Tamale”, “Backrow Politics”, and “Beginning to see the Light”; the soloists included Claire A, Allard ’15 and Oliver W, Privett ’18 on trumpet, Larissa G ’19 on trombone & Chris C, Rogers ’16 on tenor saxophone. The adjudicator had a lot of useful tips for the Jazz Band, specifically for the trumpets since he was a trumpeter himself. Last but not least, the Composition Band performed, receiving well-deserved praise for their wonderful performance. It was long and rewarding day. We gained some good performing experience and listened to good music from other bands. A special thanks goes out to Mr. McGill and Mr. Newns for conducting these bands and taking us to Victoria for the day. Now the Rock Bands will continue to improve for future stage opportunities, and the Jazz Band will be making their finishing touches for the Whistler Festival in May. Linnea M, Allard ‘17

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