Band ascends to musical mountaintop

MHS band members take a break to pose for a photograph.
By KERRI SNELL, Sentinel Correspondent

The McPherson High School band ascended to a musical mountaintop at the Colorado Springs Cavalcade of Music held in May, and Kyle Hopkins, USD 418 director of bands, hopes the group never will come back down.
This was the first time the McPherson High School Band has competed in a major national competition, and the band came away with scores in the "excellent" range.

"At Cavalcade, our band played at a higher musical level than I've ever heard them play and their group building dynamics increased ten-fold on the trip. It catapulted us to a higher level musically and as a group and now our goal is to start at that level next year and continue to move upwards," said Hopkins.

On a nationally recognized 100-point adjudication system, the band received a composite score of 86, with one judge scoring as high as 90.
"They have higher standards than even our state level competition.... I was especially thrilled with the 90 at our first national competition. That sets a foundation for continued growth toward musical excellence. You never go to a competition for the scores, but it's sure nice when they affirm your hard work," Hopkins stated.

The MHS Band performed "Masque" by Francis McBeth and "Llwynn Onn" by Brian Hogg at the Pikes Peak Center for the Performing Arts, a professional music hall.

The trip was a highlight for senior band students who, along with the rest of the band, took time to see some of the sites in the surrounding area. They hiked at Garden of the Gods and enjoyed time in Manitou Springs to eat and shop. A large part of their Saturday was spent at Buckskin Joe's Western theme park, which featured an old town, museums, staged gun fights, carriage rides, a train ride through Royal Gorge and go-carts.
The group ate dinner one evening at Flying W Ranch and were entertained by a country string band.

Jeanne Whitenack, a member of the MHS Band Parents Club, coordinated trip activities. Other sponsors who made the trip were Kyle Rausch, Christi Hopkins, Tom Elliott, Karen Holman, Marcia Walters, Bill and Sheri Copeland, Becky Dockum, Dennis and Janet Frans, and Pam Gray. "Junior band members" attending were Isaac and Benjamin Hopkins, Hannah Copeland and Joseph Frans.

Funds for the trip were raised by the band members and the McPherson High School Band Parents Club, through sales of Red Wheel products and concession items at basketball and football games.
Hopkins expressed appreciation to the USD 418 board of education and administration for giving him permission to take the band on the trip, which served as a real morale boost and great recruiting tool for attracting future students to the MHS Band program.

"In this town, we have such high expectations in sports, yet mediocrity is too easily accepted in our band by both the community and the students. Putting the band in the national spotlight has shown them what they are capable of, and next year it won't be so much me demanding excellence, but them expecting excellence of themselves and not settling for anything less. We would not have reached that point this year without an experience like this," said Hopkins.

McPherson Unified School District 418
514 N. Main
McPherson, KS 67460
620-241-9400
It is the policy of McPherson USD 418 not to discriminate on the basis of sex, disability, race,
religion, color, age, or national origin in its educational programs and/or activities, nor in its employment practices.

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