Hurricane Milton Changes Schedule
On October 9th, four of Lawton Chiles Middle School’s bands were supposed to perform their first concert of the school year in the Hagerty High School auditorium, like they do every year. However, Hurricane Milton tried to attend the concert, and ended up blowing it off by two and a half weeks. The rescheduled concert happened on October 21st, during each of the four bands’ class periods. Instead of playing in the band room, the classes performed in the gym, giving parents an opportunity to watch their children from the bleachers.
Beginning Band
The beginning band at LCMS is the entry level band. Instead of playing on Monday, they performed on Wednesday after school. Starting a whole new instrument at the beginning of the year, this was their first concert. There were over 15O beginners crowded in the gym, and they showed their parents and everyone else in the audience everything they had learned so far. Some parents sat with their kids in the center of the gym, listening to them play, and some sat in the bleaches, watching from afar.
Advanced Band
Advanced Band is the second highest band at LCMS. Filled with mostly seventh and eighth graders, they were the first band of the day to perform. Mrs. Autrey is the band director for the class, and led the whole band through the concert. They played three pieces: March of the Kangaroos, Centurion, and Creature Feature.
Concert Band
Concert Band is one of the many bands at LCMS. The class of seventh and eighth graders played during 3rd period. Both band directors, Mrs. Kuperman and Mrs. Autrey, conducted the concert. First, Mrs. Autrey conducted the song, Brandy Station March. For the last two pieces called Shadowlands and El Taco Picante, Mrs. Kuperman led the band. “I really liked Shadowlands because it went with the Halloween time of the year and it was different from the other songs,” Maya Peters (7th), a clarinet player, said.
Symphonic Band
During the fourth period of the day, Symphonic Band performed their concert. This is the second highest band (right behind jazz). They performed three songs: Zydeco Cajun Crawdad Dance, Celtic Air and Dance, and Down by the Salley Gardens.
Jazz Band
Jazz Band is the highest out of the five bands. Though their class period is seventh, they performed right after Symphonic band during fourth period. During the long period, Symphonic played first, and then all of the kids who were in Jazz moved to their places for the smaller band at the side of the gym. They performed three songs: Killer Joe, My Little Suede Shoes, and Give Me Some Lovin’. When asked how she thought the Jazz concert went, the band director, Mrs. Kuperman, replied, “I thought it went great.”
