Forum of the Saxes

Thomas · Joined: 27 Jun 2005 Posts: 223 Location: Alberta, Canada

Well, let me point out first of all that in Canada, we don't have marching bands in school. In fact, there's not a single school that I know of that has one. Probably for a good reason, because football isn't really that popular, either; at least at my school.

Since my school is K-12 (the only public school of this kind in Canada, by the way), the high school portion is relatively small in comparison to some of the other gigantic high schools out there. Even though it's a performing arts school, for some reason, our music program is pretty under-appreciated (and under-attended). That being said, we still have pretty much the best music program in Edmonton.

To answer the original question, I would have to say Jazz Ensemble I, no question about it. We've gotten numerous comments from many adjudicators, and professional musicians who attend our concerts, that our band can "swing". Though the flow of musicians into the band has somewhat dwindled over the past few years, we still manage to harvest a pretty decent crop every year.

Even though, like I said, our music program is not as recognized as some of the other departments, the recognition that it does get is always positive. And that, to me, is a true honour.

_________________
Thomas Hay
Sax player, music student, composer, Finale user, and part-time slacker/procrastinator.