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Lions Club band takes top honors
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| By: ADAM NORTHAM, DAILY LEADER Staff Writer |
July 16, 2009 |
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Two young musicians from the Brookhaven High School Band can now call themselves world champions after competing as members of the 2009 Mississippi Lions All-State Band and winning first place at the Lions Club International band competition last week.
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BHS senior John Calcote, 17, and junior Astasha Henderson, 16, marched with the state's all-star band down the streets of Minneapolis last Tuesday, taking part in the 145-member band's 26th championship by overwhelming the judges, the competition and even the crowd.
"All you heard was people screaming, 'Mississippi!'" Henderson said. "Everyone was on their feet, and they were trying to take pictures with us when we stopped. They knew us from the past."
With Calcote sliding away on his trombone and Henderson providing the low notes on her bass clarinet, the Mississippi band performed nearly flawlessly in the competitive parade performance, tallying a final score of more than 96 points and defeating the second place band by 10 points - a huge margin of victory in musical competition, where winners and losers are often decided by tenths of a point.
Henderson said the judges were standing up and waiting for the band to arrive, a testament to its reputation. Afterward, she said one of the judges told the band on his critique tape he and his peers had given up trying to score the band halfway through the performance and simply stood up, clapped and took in the show.
"He said he didn't think he'd be able to hear again," Henderson said. "We were loud, and with a good sound."
Calcote, however, didn't have to wait for the tapes. He said he knew the competition was over as his band turned away, fired up the drum cadence and marched to the parade's end.
"I said, 'Oh yeah, we won - hands down. There's no competition, that was it,'" he recalled. "I could hear everybody playing behind me while we were marching back. I knew we had it."
Major victories like the Mississippi band earned last week aren't given away. Calcote and Henderson endured a long week of practice - the winning show music and drill were learned from scratch in only a few days time - followed by several exhibition performances and a 900-mile bus ride to Minnesota.
Beginning Monday, June 29, the band practiced the many facets of creating a quality marching show from 6:30 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. daily. Members were required to have the show music memorized before arriving at the weeklong camp.
The band's winning journey began with a concert a Jones County Junior College in Ellisville on Friday, July 3, and moved the next morning to another concert at Pearl High School at 11 a.m. The band was in Oxford to play in the Grove by 5 p.m., and departed from there to Minneapolis.
Upon arrival at their practice stations at a local high school in Minneapolis, a quick reconnaissance of the competition area revealed the city streets to be too narrow. Calcote said the entire drill - a week's work - had to be changed on the spot.
The international competition took place last Tuesday, with judges inspecting the band's formation, grading its musical performance and reviewing the motions of the color guard, dancers and drum major. Later that night, before the young performers were made aware of their victory, head band director Jeff Cannon took the opportunity to put one over on his students and kick off the celebration.
"Our band director came in and psyched us out," Henderson said. "We thought we had second (place). He started crying, and he said he would hate to tell a band like us we came in second. Everyone started crying because we thought we won second. Then, he said, 'I'm glad I don't have to tell y'all that.' Everyone screamed, jumped up and down, hugged him and ran around."
The big victory for the students and state was the result of gritty personal effort, Henderson said.
"These kids, they don't play like they're in high school," she said. "They're dedicated to what they do. These kids ... want to do, and do better, and succeed in everything they do and see others succeed in what they do. They give to be giving - the don't take and receive."
Being a part of the winning effort is a great feeling, Calcote said.
"Just to know I'm in a group that won something this big, it's amazing," he said. "To be in the Mississippi All-State Lions Band is a very big thing."
BHS Band Director Clay Whittington compared the all-state band's victory to winning a gold medal at the Olympics, and said his staff will encourage all Brookhaven student-musicians to try out in the future.
"It pushes students to excel," he said. "Competition, of course, is always something that's good, even in musicianship. We're extremely proud of (Calcote and Henderson). They worked very hard, and there was a lot of competition for those positions. Those students reported back to me that they've had an excellent time, worked with outstanding instructors ... and made new friendships with students from across Mississippi."
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©The Daily Leader 2009
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