HOUSTON – The St. John Paul II Catholic School (StJPII) Advanced Band which is made up of 7
th and 8
th grade students received the Sweepstakes Award for achieving straight first division ratings, which is the highest rating given in Concert and Sightreading from the judges. StJPII’s Advanced Band, under the direction of award-winning composer Mr. Kenneth Griffin, participated in the eighth annual Houston Symphonic Band Concert & Sightreading contest on Tuesday, April 10th, at Houston Christian High School. The StJPII band has achieved this highest honor every year since the contest’s inception.
StJPII’s band is classified as a “1C middle school.” They prepared three selections for the concert portion of the contest, two of which were selected from the University Interscholastic League (UIL) Prescribed Music List under the Grade/Class 2 category: “
The Tears of Arizona” by Brian Balamages and
“Tanchozuru” by Randall Standridge. Grade 2 music is more difficult for 2C middle schools and 1A, 2A and 3A high schools. The band also played a march (of the director’s choosing):
“Bavarian Trails March” by Joseph Compello. Another component of the competition included performing a piece of band music unseen by the band members. Griffin was given eight minutes to discuss the music and the band performed it from beginning to end. Griffin said,
“Every year, I am impressed with the level of skill, dedication, and heart that the students display in performing. Our students rise to every occasion and it begins with the foundations learned in the classroom and echoes through their professionalism as performers.”
Additionally, StJPII students, Helena Khuri, Michael DeVaull, and Juan Pablo Pena were recognized as outstanding soloists. The entire trumpet and tuba sections were noted as outstanding sections by the judges. Each soloist and each bandsman in those sections received a medal. StJPII band members went home with 20 medals in all. Members of the trumpet section included Nhat Tong, Michael DeVaull, Catherine Weiland, Gabriel Yeung, Ryan Gruen, Caleb Sudkamp, Connor Fussa, Juanpablo Zambrano, Ana Sofia Maya Muniz, Casey Salvatierra, and Connor Ulery. Members of the tuba section include Timi Odufuye, Zane Beyer, Philip Havard, and Jonathan Tantillo.
The band is now preparing for its annual spring concert at StJPII at 7:00 p.m. on May 17, 2018, which is open to the public with no admission fee. For more information about the StJPII band or the spring concert, please visit the StJPII website,
www.jp2.org.
