Soaring success

More stories from Libby Reach

Soaring success

Many people at Etowah recognize the band from Friday night football games and Pep Rallies, but the band does much more. After the football season, they prepare for band Large Group Performance Evaluation. 

Advanced and mastery bands took the trip to Reinhardt University last month for their annual band LGPE. Judges grade the bands from 1 (superior) to 5 (poor). 

“We got superiors across the board for sight-reading and the performance. We’ve been working on this almost since the beginning of the school year, so I think the work we put into it was reciprocated in the scores,” Aidan McGowan, freshman, said. 

Receiving an almost-perfect score is a big deal for LGPE participants, and all groups strive to achieve high results. They are already dreaming of next year’s victory. 

“My goal is to always challenge my students but to also have reasonable expectation,s so they are not overwhelmed to the point they don’t enjoy it anymore,” Stephen Long, band teacher, said. 

This year’s freshmen, who participated in band LGPE, also got the opportunity to perform with E.T. Booth’s band in middle school. After LGPE, students listened to the judges’ feedback to reflect on how they can improve. 

“It was a super fun experience. This is my third year doing it, and every year, it is super fun and rewarding. As a band, we have worked very hard for our LGPE performance, and it totally paid off with all superiors,” Ryan Lofland, freshman, said. 

LGPE has been an exciting experience for not only band members, but for the schoo,l as well. As the band prepares for next year’s performance, the musicians hope to rack up more superior seasons and continue Etowah’s winning tradition.