Sunday, April 13, 2008

RMPA State Championships

So yesterday, Alameda's Winter Percussion ensemble competed at the Rocky Mountain Percussion Association State Championships. There were four schools in their class - Sand Creek, Standley Lake, Glenwood Springs, and Alameda. Three schools would make finals. Here is a video of Alameda's show (during a rehearsal right before finals).


The kids played well during prelims. We discovered that after prelims, Glenwood Springs had a score of 84.20, Alameda had an 81.70, and Sand Creek had an 81.50. So yay! They made finals, but were pretty comforatbly in second place. The kids watched some of the shows and went out to rehearse a bit before finals. They absolutely ROCKED their finals performance. It was by far their best performance of the year! It was so fun to see them play. They knew they played their hearts out. When they announced the scores, they said, "In third place, with a score of 81.15, Sand Creek High School. In second place, with a score of 84.40 (and at this point we all gasped! Our score had jumped almost 3 whole points since prelims!!!) Alameda High School. In first place, with a score of 84.90, Glenwood Springs High School." The kids (and instructors) were THRILLED with their score! They knew they had given it their all and it paid off. So they were all excited, but then they kind of felt weird knowing they were only half a point out of first place. Either way, they were very proud of themselves, and we are so happy for them! They've been through a lot in the last year.

Along those lines, Monday was the anniversary of last year's accident. For those who don't know, last year, on the way to the competition, a band parent was driving the percussion trailer and was in an accident and was killed. Four other people were hospitalized, including several current members. After the finals performance yesterday, the news crews wanted to interview Kevin. Here's a link to the story: http://cw2.trb.com/news/kwgn-alameda-band-crash-year-later,0,2926440.story

These kids really have overcome a lot, and we're all so proud of them! It was a very fun and rewarding day.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Kevin's First Win!!

Kevin celebrated his 24th birthday on Friday. We had a crazy week, so we had a low-key celebration on Friday night. We went to Old Chicago in Boulder so Kevin could finish his third World Beer Tour. His parents and sister came too. The kids at his school found out it was his birthday, so when he left for lunch, he came back and they had decorated the band room and had a little party for him. Every period, one of the choirs would come in and sing "Happy Birthday". The kids were making fun of Kevin for being so young - he's the youngest faculty member at AHS by far, so they gave him some gag gifts - bath fizz, coloring books, and baby shampoo:) Kevin was happy that the kids wanted to celebrate with him.

Saturday, Kevin's Winter Percussion Ensemble competed at the Northglenn Competition at Northglenn High School. These events are run by the Rocky Mountain Percussion Association (State Championships are next week!). This was the first time they performed their entire show for the judges. Their show is a Metallica show - the songs "Fuel" and "One". There were only two schools in their class at this competition - Standley Lake and Alameda. For Prelims, Alameda scored an 80.20. Standley Lake scored an 81.00. Very close! SL has been ahead of Alameda all season, so the Alameda kids were excited and wanted to pass SL. The kids rehearsed all day between Prelims and Finals, and were exhausted by the end of the day. Finals were late that afternoon and both schools had good shows. When they announced all the scores, we discovered that Alameda had passed Standley Lake - 80.30 to 79.90. This was Kevin's first competition win as a director! He's very excited, but mostly he's proud of the kids. They have been through a lot in the last year, and they were so happy. Kevin still wants to better their score for next week championships! There will be four schools in their class, and three make finals, so we think there's a great shot! They have to rehearse hard all week, but hopefully this win will give them the motivation they need. We'll try to get some pictures up next week.

Even though we were exhausted Saturday night, some friends came to Old Chicago for another birthday celebration for Kevin. It didn't last too long! We were pretty tired.

Today, Amy went to the Rockies game with her sister. That was really fun, except they both got sunburned! Extra Crispy. Too bad the Rockies lost, but it was still fun. Kevin went golfing with some friends. Time to gear up for another crazy week!