Last month, The Carmel High School Wind Symphony 1 earned the 2015 Indiana State School Music Association Concert Band State Championship title with an incredibly memorable performance! The literature performed by the concert band included: “The Screamer March” by Fred Jewell/ed. Kopetz, “Archangel, Raphael who leaves a House of Tobias” by Masanori Taruya and “Southern Harmony” by Donald Grantham.
Following the competition, Carmel Director of Bands, Michael Pote, wrote to the families of the winners and stated “The Carmel Band Family is extremely proud of Wind Symphony 1’s State Championship performance … These kinds of accolades truly are the result of a “village” of people working together to create opportunities for young musicians.”
Three conductors adjudicated the 16 finalist bands. Those 16 bands qualified for the competition during the previous weekend where 53 bands started the competition. The judges included: Mr. Gary Markham, retired supervisor of instrumental music, Cobb County Schools, Marietta, GA, Dr. Cody Birdwell, director of bands, University of Kentucky, Mr. Eric Rombach-Kendall, director of bands, University of New Mexico.
Kyle Young, Carmel associate director of bands, said, “We couldn’t be more proud of musicians in Wind Symphony 1. These students have worked together the entire year to push the ensemble to new heights.”
In the 31-year history of ISSMA concert band championships, this is the first year there was a tie for first place. Carmel shares the championship with Penn High School from Mishawaka, Ind.
The Carmel Wind Symphony 1 has performed in 22 of the total 31 ISSMA State Finals competitions. Of the 22 years, Carmel placed in the top five, 15 of those years with championships coming in 1999, 2013 and now 2015. For more information on Carmel Bands, go to: www.carmelbands.org
