It was a battle of the bands Saturday at as the music department presented the 33rd Annual Red & White Contest and Band Awards Concert.
The premise of the Red & White Concert is simple. Two eighth-grade band members are voted by their classmates as "Student Directors." Each director chooses his or her band, made up of a mix of the 130, fifth- through eighth-grade band members, makes their own song selections, then rehearses with the band for one week. This year the student directors are Kellianne Yhip (Red Band) and Cassie Plata (White Band).
"The Red & White is our biggest concert of the year," reported Maria L. Pahati, director of bands at Eisenhower. "Each band performs in front of three judges and the audience, then the judges pick the best band."
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For its selections, the Red Band performed March to the Scaffold, by Berlioz and arranged by Custer, and Themes of 1812 Overture, by Tchaikovsky and arranged by Vinson. The White Band entertained the crowd with March in the Shadows, by Kiefer, and Acclamations, by Huckeby.
At the end of the evening, the judges selected the White Band as the winner.
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After the competition, both bands combined to perform a selection of mostly patriotic music. Awards were also presented to each student as well as specific awards for outstanding eighth graders in the program.
The evening ended on a high note with the Symphonic Band playing Katy Perry's popular Firework, a song they will perform at the the North American Music Festival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, May 5 - 8.
"Music is important to children for many reasons, but I believe that it helps make the kids better students," Pahati said. "The skills that they learn with music are brought into their academic classes and every day life. They learn to be more disciplined, have self confidence, creative thinking, and also how to work together as a team."
