SWMEA Band Festival

The RAL Wind Ensemble performed in the Southwest Washington Music Educator Association Band Festival on March 26. The event took place at Kelso High School and fourteen bands participated.

The SWMEA Band Festival consists of two parts for every group. First, the band performs and the three judges rate the performance. Second, every group has adjudication with one of the judges.

“We have band contests as a method of evaluation of bands,” said David Klander, RAL band teacher. “You get to talk to judges who tell you how you play. That’s the main reason we go to band contests.”

The RAL Wind Ensemble consists of 23 RAL students. In the performance part of the contest, the wind ensemble played two selections. They included the “Folk Song Suite” by Vaughn Williams, followed by “Pepita Greus” by Pasqual Chovi.

“We played very well,” said Klander. “There are things we could have done better on, but we did really well and the scores reflect that.”

In the adjudication portion of the festival, the judge gave very positive comments. He praised the challenging repertoire played by the band.

“The feedback we got was really good,” said Klander.

By the end of the adjudication, the judges awarded the RAL Wind Ensemble a Superior rating, the highest possible score for a band to receive.