AHS band to compete next Tuesday

By Donnie A. Lucas

The Albany High School band will compete in the UIL Region 2 East Zone Concert and Sight Reading contest in Abilene next Tuesday.

The contest will be held at Wylie High School, with the Albany band taking the stage at 10:15 a.m. for the concert portion of the contest.

The band will then move to another hall for sight reading at about 10:40 a.m.

“We will perform three prepared numbers for the concert portion, then move to the band hall to sight read a piece they give us,” director William Vaughan said.

The director said that he is hoping for another pair of Division I ratings in the two contests, which when combined with the group’s Division I in marching last fall would win a Sweepstakes Award.

The band earned a Division 2 in marching in 2020, followed by a pair of Division I ratings in concert and sight reading last spring.

“I think that the kids can repeat the Division I ratings that they received a year ago and get a Sweepstakes,” he said. “They are well-prepared and sound really good, except for some small individual errors.”

He added that the occasional little errors really stick out with the band playing at a higher level now.

The band will play March Zingaro by Stanridge, The Hope for Tomorrow by Wada, and Into the Arctic by Balmages in the concert portion.

The band had one final clinic on Wednesday conducted by Mike Lunney to prepare for the contest.

Vaughan said that he is planning a public concert in the near future, but no date has been set.