contrabassclarinet

Results:
1. Bridgeland (State Advance)
2. Cy-Fair (State Advance)
3. Tompkins (State Advance)
4. Cypress Woods (State Advance)
5. Seven Lakes (State Advance)
6. Jordan
7. James E. Taylor
8. Cinco Ranch
9. Katy
10. Cypress Ranch
Congratulations to all participants on putting on great shows today!

I've been following Cy-Woods pretty closely this year, and I could see a medal at area this year. Their show is a step up in difficulty compared to past years so I expect it to peak later in the season- could be a good explanation as to why they haven't done as well at this year's competitions as they have in the last 2-3 years.

just verified with the recap link posted a minute or two ago:
cy woods: 18th (up from 33rd last year)
bridgeland: 19th (up from 24th last year)
cy fair: 30th (first state appearance since 2018)
edit (forgot to add this):
cy woods 2022 is now tied with cy fair 2014 for closest cfisd show to making finals (4th out) since langham creek made it in 2006. super impressive with the competition this year.

just verified with the recap link posted a minute or two ago:
cy woods: 18th (up from 33rd last year)
bridgeland: 19th (up from 24th last year)
cy fair: 30th (first state appearance since 2018)
edit (forgot to add this):
cy woods 2022 is now tied with cy fair 2014 for closest cfisd show to making finals (4th out) since langham creek made it in 2006. super impressive with the competition this year.

cy woods and bridgeland were so painfully close to finals! both programs set school records today for their highest non-covid-year placements in state prelims, making some big jumps from last year. although cy-fair's placement today doesn't reflect it, they have had a wonderful comeback year and have been giving established programs a run for their money all season long. congratulations to all three of these bands- with the trajectory these programs are on, i'm expecting some big stuff out of cfisd next year. super super proud of all these kids.

congratulations! i'm sure y'all were excited- i remember that feeling when woods finally made the return to state 3 years ago. i look forward to seeing y'all's run at state!

So cool to see the CFISD representation with 5 schools here! I saw a clip from a Cy-Woods rehearsal from a little over a week ago, and they looked nice and sounded very good for where they are in the season. This year's show is definitely quite a bit different from what they've done historically, but it seems like they've adapted to it well. I'm hoping them to have a similar showing here to BOA Conroe last year, where they placed unexpectedly high in both prelims and finals. I haven't seen any of the other schools in the district this year, but Cy-Fair had a good season last year as well, and Cy-Park has been doing very nicely for only being a few years old. I'm interested to see how Ranch and Falls will do- it's been a while since I remember seeing them compete with big name programs. Hopefully it's a sign that they're on an upwards trend as well!

I enjoy reading and responding occasionally -- 15 years at CTJ and the one thing I have always believed is a good thing... "Love you or hate you, if they're talking about you... you're doing your job." It's nice to see the commentary and happy that folks are seeking out our videos! CTJ is my one and only ... and I don't take for granted how lucky we are as a community to get to be a part of something as special as what we have.
The show this year is an effort to get "back to basics" - there is drill (we move and play a lot) - there is a simple concept "out there," which references both "spaces," "from the outside looking in," planets, stars, ET, and of course how fortunate we are to be a part of such a wonderful world. I am not gaslighting - there's a lot wrong, but ... in a time where there is so much to be negative about, I try hard as a leader to keep our students and community focused on the positives in our world, and how they have an ability to be the change they wish so badly to see. We have never avoided doing difficult things ... so, the program is challenging, but... we have also tried to avoid "everything but the kitchen sink" - which we did very well with competitively, I might add 😇 And the show is in three movements plus a pre-show. It's a shorter show this year, and doesn't go down quite so many rabbit holes. This is a result of our own reflection ... but also things I have read on this forum, and feedback from adjudicators. We also like learning from those who are "state of the art" - Hebron, Vandy, Woodlands, Reagan, BA, Avon, Carmel, ETC - each bring something incredible to the table. And it helps shape our approach.
Our ballad is inspired by 2018 Bluesprings - one of my favorite ballads as an audience member - and I remember thinking all through that "videos don't do that ballad justice" ... and I don't think the videos do ours justice either. Love singing or hate it ... it's a personal taste. I am singer - I enjoy it, and our kids do a wonderful job with it.
I am always grateful each year to the bloggers and the audience members (who I also realize are some of our biggest competitors and not always happy to see us do well, but still stay positive or at least constructive) - that's a part of this game. I do always remind people that putting a show together and keeping a program like CTJ going over the long term is not easy to do (and we have now been around a LONG time, unless you're like RUBISCO ... you're a baby in my eyes)... Our team continues to entertain, push the envelope, and provide great experiences for our band members. We are inspired by the amazing programs in Texas, and continue to learn from them.
Someday, those of you who write on this forum, I hope you are as fortunate as I have been to teach and be a part of the design process for a program like CTJ. It is am amazing thing to be a part of. And - you won't fully understand every decision we make, nor agree with it. And that's cool. That's the best part about art - it's subjective. We do CTJ the way we love to do it - it is a joy to teach there every day. AND, as Rubisco so eloquently put it so many years ago, we will always "go our own way."
Have the best season, and look forward to sharing our show with you in KATY. 

My school doesn't participate in any indoor drumline for this exact reason. Rather than spending more time purely on the marching aspect of band, our percussion focuses on concert band to build more skill in a wider variety of percussion instruments. They put together several high-level pieces for a percussion concert that always happens at the end of the year, which are always incredible.

Vandegrift's 2022 show will be called "Into The Grid"
Musical Selections Include -
"Into the Grid" - Daft Punk (Source Material for MVT 1) "MACHINE" From Symphony #5 - William Bolcom (Source Material for MVT 2) "Adagio" - Daft Punk (Source Material for MVT 3) "Masks and Machines" - Paul Dooley (Source Material for MVT 4) "Hymn of Acxiom"- Vienna Teng (Source Material for MVT 4) Original Material written by Shaw and Markworth From my understanding the show will contain some experimental marching and attempt to create a 3D effect on the field using formations of props and marchers.

Pearland and Seven Lakes were truly great this year. It’s a real shame we didn’t have any Houston bands in finals this year, especially with just how close they were. Cypress Woods in 29th feels absurdly low. Like, I understand no finals- there are tons of excellent programs here. But a 29th placement is contrary to everything displayed by the program this year. Jersey Village and Bridgeland felt a little low as well, but not as upsetting as Woods.

Props are not required and how much did the props that Broken Arrow have add to their show? was that a deciding factor? they sure looked expensive to build and even more to haul from OK.
there is much to be said about what a program spends on drill designers and other expense, so what do you propose to make this fair for everyone. do we limit the amount that a program can spend? do we ban props? do we require that every program write their own drill and arrange their own music? do we restrict the private lessons of their students? do we limit who they can bring in to consult?
Avon and Carmel spend next to nothing to go to Grand Nats and get to go every year. they sleep in their own beds every night for their super regional and grand nats. They do not have to deal with a 8 hour rule as it appears to be unique to Texas. That is my bigger concern.
Every program has the ability to fundraise to support their programs. I am not talking about just selling coupon books and/or mulch. 
I have been doing fundraising outside of the student families for a number of years. the programs that claim that they struggle actually have the advantage as they can quickly qualify for grants. the schools that are in affluent areas do not, as every school and district is rated in a system that grant supporters want to see.
Your program may a high income demographic and fail to qualify for support, but have a huge transient population in the means of apartments/rentals that need support - especially if you are in an area that supports a military base - moving every 3 years.
Our program is considered by far too many to be an affluent program - but our cluster foundation provided more than $50K in support this season for marching scholarships for Grand Nats, for one of our middle schools to do Midwest clinic, for instruments at other schools. This funding was to support kids that would not otherwise be able to participate based on their financial situation. 
If you think that the "affluent" schools do not have a free lunch program - you are mistaken.
I would welcome and be more interested in any thoughts on how we can ensure that every kid has the ability to perform in the marching arts - and I would support anything that is reasonable, but let's not assume that the only means it to provide for some is to take away from others. 

Hebron Appreciation Thread: The Drinking Game

The phrase: "DCI with woodwinds" = take a sip

"what do they feed the __ players?" = sip

"what's in the water in Carrolton/DFW/Texas?" = sip

Comparisons to college bands/drum corps = 1 shot

Lamenting Hebron's absence from Grand Nats this year = 2 shots

GOAT proclamations = 3 shots

Just wanted to put this post up to rave how amazing Hebron was this year. As a former Vandegrift alum who went there from 2016 - 2019, I have to say this was easily the greatest marching band show of all time. These kids sounded like a DCI group. I've never heard such a rich tone, powerful low brass, and technical proficiency from a high school group before and I just want to say thank you to all of the Hebron kids who just redefined how good a high school marching band can be. You've changed marching band forever and have taken this amazing art form we all love to a whole new level. You guys should feel like rockstars after performing that show and like I said before, thank you for all your hard work. You guys are the Michael Jackson's of marching band and   pulled off the greatest marching band show of all time.

hebron would have gotten a 99 had they gone to nats

I feel like at least six bands have a chance of taking the Eagle. 
Tbh, I don't really care who wins, as long as they're from Texas. #TeamTexas

It is not a "tarnish" to say "had a band participated they would have a good chance at winning." Support all bands regardless, they are all phenomenal. Chill.

Never bet against Joni Perez.
The best in the business.

I can only hear what the box5 mics are picking up, but it sounds like FloMo was able to fix a majority of the ensemble tuning issues they were having. That performance felt just the slightest bit unstable from a timing standpoint but I have no doubt that that was the weakest performance we will see from them this weekend. What a stellar show.
Also that field exit announcement script is EVERYTHING. First time hearing it and I love it so much.
 

I went to The Woodlands send off for grand nats and I will say this y'all are under estimating them.  You can tell that band is out to win it all they have a vengeance to win it all.  I have BA first but TWHS second with Avon third and FloMo 4th.  I may be way wrong but from what I've seen this is what my gut is telling me.

can we end this conversation already - this is a yearly thing. unless someone has $500K in their pocket that wants to ensure that the "Best in Texas" goes to G Nats let's just let it go.
In 2019 we heard... but if Reagan went... but they didn't - and Vandy brought home the Eagle. how do you think the Vandy program felt to heard - but if Reagan went...
Hebron had a phenomenal show and they took gold in BOA-SA and State - their season is over and they will now prepare for their trip to Pasadena and the Tournament of Roses parade in January. I know they will have a great time. but let's start supporting the 7 programs that ARE going to Indy and move on.
 

the curse of the best texas band not going to nats continues…

It is a crime not to be seeing Hebron at GNats this year

Flower Mound was sooo entertaining! I loved all the colors and props. Feels like a musical production. 

Gang
 for many of you that where in Indy in 2019 with the Texas 6 pack recall, we had a gathering on Friday night to get together to watch the Flo-Marching steam of the Prelims announcements and hear that all 6 Texas Bands had advanced to Semi-Finals. We had some great alumni parents from a lot of Texas Programs and even our honorary Avon Texas band. We had the TxBands folks, Horn rank, some of the MFA/BOA staff, some band directors and even Eric Martin, then CEO of MFA/BOA came to speak with us prior to heading back to participate in the announcements. 
At that time the Westin had vacated a Shula's steak house and we were able to get a meeting room in that space and food/drinks at a reasonable cost, I have spoken to all of the Marriott hotels in Downtown and the cost of a room and the A/V connections have a cost requirement of more than $100 per head. so I had been working on some other options.
As you know, Eric Martin stepped down last year as CEO of MFA/BOA during Covid. My wife and I have been invited to his retirement party at Lucas Oil on Friday night prior to the announcements for semi-finals.  I have met Eric a few times during his trips to San Antonio and am grateful for his time to speak to our group at grand nats and feel the need to attend this event.
sadly, we will not be having a Friday night event at Indy this year. I apologize as I truly enjoyed getting to meet the people behind the TXBands screen names and share our passion for marching band even after our kids are no longer in the programs.
If you are in the stadium - look for our Texas Flag (5' X 8') that will hang from the suite every time a Texas band enters the field for finals - and don't forget to sing "deep in the heart of Texas" with us as they enter the field in Finals.
Safe Travels to all