aaron067

Vandegrift's music was one of the hardest books on the field this year. Period. Their dance team exhibits the same level of skill in dance that the best guards exhibit in equipment work. It's different, not lesser than. Props have exactly no place on any rubric in any competitive circuit. If a group chooses to use props and they're integrated into the design in an interactive manner, then that can contribute to design/ge points. Otherwise, they don't add or detract. Especially at UIL.

Unfortunately, this is only part of the score. The days of just having a Music caprion at UIL State are over (though Area still uses that). It actually functions much more like the BOA caption of the same name, which takes into account the construction of the arrangements (from an effect standpoint) and how well the band executes that. "You could really have more range of expression" is a comment heard on these tapes that just means "I want you to play louder here".

Fixed! Dang autocorrect.

The Music and Visual Ensemble scores absolutely include design and construction considerations. EVERYTHING in BOA is tied into design except for the individual scores, and even those are affected by the range of vocabulary and style the students have been asked to perform. Music GE is also unavoidably tied to visual GE (from the judges perspective), which is unfortunate because that involves a lot of things that are mostly outside the students' control. It's all about how impactful the "moments" are, and that impact lives on a spectrum that varies by judge and is affected by design choices and how well the students execute. Even a perfectly performed show that the judges think is poorly designed will not score super well, while on the flip side you can have a brilliant show design that's been dummy-proofed that scores well with a moderately executed performance because the design is communicated at a high level. There's definitely some difference of opinion on how this should be approached in the judging world. 2019 Grand Nationals is a perfect example. Vandegrift won because they had a well designed show that was executed at a very high level, but Avon had a more complex and difficult approach that ultimately fell just short of the gold despite BOA changing the sheets that year to give more credit for difficulty vs achievement. I personally prefer watching the Vandegrift show because I just think they march and play better (and artistry is its own form of effect), but there's certainly disagreement over the matter. Ultimately, we see many Texas bands starting to figure out how to be successful in both, which is why 13 of 14 6A state finalists were also finalists at BOA SA a few days before. That last one attended both but has definitely figured the UIL game out much more effectively than the BOA game. Actually, that refined style you're associating with DFW comes from the University of Houston, originally pioneered by Eddie Green. It has spread throughout the state and takes different forms depending on who the director is and especially who their primary clinician or mentor is. It has been reduced by many people over the years to a very bland but technically very precise approach. Mr. Green had bands that were anything but bland, though.

Using solely the results from Prosper is a mistake because there are other factors to consider. - Bands like Keller and Waxahachie surge in the late season and usually have a more refined sound than groups that do well at BOA due to general effect. - This area is being judged by directors who primarily come from the Houston school of thought. - Music/Music/Music/Marching/Marching vs the independent captions of BOA will also produce different results. Ultimately, I think quality of achievement and cleanliness are going to outshine show design, but I suspect most (if not all) of the bands advancing will be those people are already talking about. Don't be surprised if final rankings look different than prior contests, though.

Waxahachie HS has the exact same % of economically disadvantaged students as Bell and a significantly lower academic standing. Still, the point remains that boiling it down to money isn't fair to the effort that everyone puts in.

Keep in mind that the more complex shows just aren't as complete early in the season (typical Marcus approach), or they are and just aren't clean yet (typical CTJ approach). So, the early contests sometimes give a false sense of where bands could end up by November.

Only by being in one of the listening sessions. The winning selections are often included on the Honor Band concert album produced by TMEA, though.

I'm not sure what CTJ and Vista Ridge are bringing to the table, but Hebron's recording was absolutely spectacular. There were many moments that left me with the sense that I was listening to a professional recording. Flower Mound was also incredible. It all depends on the judging panel for State, of course, so I wouldn't be surprised to see either performing at TMEA next February.

I was present for both but did not stay until the end of Area C, but I know someone who did.

I believe advancing recordings from Areas C and D are: Hebron, Flower Mound, and Wylie Westwood and Pearce

It's not the few...it's a large chunk of the state, and it's incredibly stressful on districts to finance an overnight trip for such a large group of people on a yearly basis. If you were to argue in favor of having the families of the band students offset that cost...well, that's even more stressful for most band students and their parents in the state. Your comment simply means you fall into one of two categories: you either live within easy driving distance of San Antonio, or your band program/district/community have ample means to ensure that yearly travel isn't a big deal. Unfortunately, that's not a majority of our state, especially given recent financial struggles in our country. Also, and this may be a contentious statement, I feel that's it's critical we remember this is the Texas STATE marching contest, not the "Big Marching Contest at the end of the season for those with financial means". It should be as inclusive as we can possibly make it to ensure the integrity of the amazing music education going on in this great state. *For what it's worth, my home band program is one that has been a long-time participant and medalist at the state marching contest and has also participated in BOA, both locally and at San Antonio.

The Region 20 info isn't correct, for what it's worth. The order was Waxahachie, Richardson, Pearce, Lake Highlands, with Berkner not advancing. The website shows Berkner advancing instead of Lake Highlands. Unless something has transpired since the results were shared at the completion of the judging...

I'm going to point out that it costs our group about $60,000 just to attend the state marching contest. Travel, lodging, food, etc. Traveling there and back in a single day is brutal and makes for a not-so-great experience for all involved, and it's just not realistic for those from far west Texas or the panhandle. It would be great for anyone in central Texas, but I'm not sure it's in the best interest of everyone for State to be every year.

Rankings were all over the place.

Results are at 4:30.

Waxahachie has another 45-50 seconds of their closer to add. Some is learned, but there's no stopping point until the end, so they didn't perform any of it for the DMI. It'll be on the field for Area next week.

If it's not based on data or historical patterns, then it's just wishful thinking. If that's the case, please just say so in your post. I didn't mean to sound biting, but there seems to be a lot of baseless conjecture this year.

Based on what exactly? BOA results don’t indicate Area results at all, and, even if they did, Waxahachie was clearly ahead of Carroll in music scores at BOA…even without the last 2 minutes of their show on the field. Visual is what tanked their score two weeks ago, and that’s specifically related to their design issues this year; however, for a band that hasn’t missed a State Finals in over a decade, I wouldn’t expect Waxahachie to show up to Area and be sloppy. They know how to play the UIL game better than most.

Waxahachie has been dealing with some pretty significant design team issues this season. They knew going into DFW that some things were going to get nailed. The staff is retooling after meeting with the judges, and the kids are working hard to make changes that will hopefully see them come out at Area and the two SA contests in a way that makes a positive and memorable impact. Only time will tell how that translates into scores and placement.

Area B: Waxahachie 1 1 1 1 1 Coppell 2 2 3 2 2

Not your fault unless you posted the video, right? On another note, CTJ is looking amazing. Cleanest visual execution I've ever seen from them.

From one month ago and mislabeled, unfortunately.