In March 2007 the Showband participated in the New York
Wind Band Festival and had the privilege of
playing in the
Carnegie Hall
together with an outside performance in the Bandshell in Central
Park.
The invitation was
as a result of the consistent and sustained success achieved at
the National Concert Band Festival and also having achieved a
Gold Award at the London International Wind Band Festival held
at The Anvil, Basingstoke last July 2005.
The School raised nearly £40000
which enabled participation at this once in a
lifetime event.
Please click on the link that
follows to view the latest list of those to whom we are very
grateful who provided support to the Showband's Trip to New
York.
Acknowledgements Page
I had emailed the organisers of the
New York Wind Band Festival who have confirmed that the
following ensembles are confirmed to participating in the
Festival:
The Following bands and ensembles also participated at the
Festival
Booker High School Wind Ensemble - Florida
Science Hill High School Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble -
Tennessee
Granite Bay High School Symphonic Band - California
Briar Woods High School Symphonic Winds - Virginia
I had sent the following email to all the participating High
Schools
Hi
there – I thought that I would contact you as I understand
that your wind band has also been invited to the above
festival next March. I wanted to contact you in advance to
introduce our band and to wish you all the best between now
and next March. I am the Chairperson of the Supporters of
Music at Abraham Darby School (SMADS), from the other HS
band websites I think the term is “Band Boosters” and we are
busy fundraising towards the trip as well. Speaking
personally I am looking forward to next March as I have
never visited America before so my few days in New York will
be a once in a lifetime experience. I have also built a
website which you will find at the following address
www.abrahamdarbymusic.co.uk and I will place a link to
your band website together with the school website.
It
would be great to hear from you in the future and also if we
could start regular correspondence between ourselves it
would be good to post this regular contact on our website. I
hope you visit our website and I look forward to hearing
from you in the very near future and perhaps as a result of
this forthcoming Festival our two respective bands will
become longstanding friends in music.
All the very best
Andrew Roberts
I have received the following emails by way of response:
Briar
Woods High School Wind Ensemble - Florida
Andrew, it is really exciting to hear from you. My
band and I are looking forward to seeing your group in
New York. This is my second time to perform in this
festival at Carnegie Hall, however it is with my new
band program here in the Washington, DC area. I would
enjoy talking to you and sharing anything that might
make your trip go smoothly. I went to the web-site link
that you provided for your band and it was very
impressive. Please feel free to check out our web-site
to get some background on the (brief), history of our
band.
http://www.loudoun.k12.va.us/bwhs/site/default.asp
Please click on Falcon Regiment Band on
our school home page to access our band site.
I look
forward to talking and meeting you, Thanks,
Duane
Minnick
Director
of Bands - Briar Woods High School
22525
Belmont Ridge Rd
Ashburn, VA
20148
Granite Bay High
School Symphonic Band - California
Hi! It's good to hear from you. We are incredibly
excited about the opportunity to play in Carnegie Hall.
I have never personally been to New York (at least when
I've been old enough to remember) so I'm looking forward
to spending some time in the big city.
I'm a student at Granite Bay High School myself, so I'll
forward your email on to our band director, Lynn
Kulkowski.
It's a little ironic hearing from a band in the UK: Our
assistant Drum Major, and a good friend of mine, is
moving to England next year (we'll miss him dearly).
We're looking forward to seeing you and your ensemble in
New York next year!
Matt Ford
