Highlander Band brings home 2nd place in 5A State Honor Band Competition

The Highlander Band's varsity concert ensemble, the Wind Symphony, attained unprecedented results this summer by placing second in the 5A State Honor Band Competition.

The State Honor Band Competition is the state championship tournament for varsity-level concert bands. The Wind Symphony is comprised of the top 55 students in the 140-member band program.

State awards were announced at the end of July. The Wind Symphony was evaluated on the following submitted recordings: Overture to the "School for Scandal" by Samuel Barber, "Southern Harmony" by Donald Grantham and "Glory of the Yankee Navy" by John Phillip Sousa.

The championship evaluation process does not consider brackets based on school sizes within the 5A classification, which means that the second-place state ranking is out of all 250 5A bands in Texas. The accomplishments are in part attributed to the dedication and talent of the excellent teaching team led by Director of Instrumental Music Reagan Brumley.

"The level of commitment and discipline displayed by these students through the entirety of the spring semester was inspiring," Brumley said. "Even on May 22, at the very end of the school year, the students showed up ready to work on the highest level in pursuit of artistic excellence and a product to enter in the Honor Band process that is as flawless as possible for a student group. Their level of personal preparation and excellence also pushed our staff to perform at its very best so that we could provide what these amazing students deserve. This is the most substantial competitive recognition in the nearly 100-year history of the Highland Park Band program, and we know there is only more to come."

Texas band programs compete biennially in concert and marching competitions. Currently, the Highlander Band is focused on beginning their marching year competition, to build on their top-10 State Finals finish from November 2017.

The community is invited to watch the Highlander Band's 2019 Marching Show during the halftime of HPHS football games or their Saturday competitions this fall. Be sure to mark your calendars for a sneak peek of the band's fall show at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 20 at the Highlander Stadium.