You’re in the entrance tunnel to the field, listening to the performance of the group before you. The cavernous dome reverberates with the booms and crashes of the percussionists, reminding you of its sheer size. The wait feels like a thousand years; you pray for the 8 minutes allotted to the current band to quickly pass. “It’s just another run,” you hear your director say, in an attempt to soothe any nervousness arising within you and your peers.

As always, any semblance of organization is merely illusory. You’ve been warned. :P Music has been a nominal part of my life since age 5, when I started taking piano lessons (with violin lessons following shortly after at ages 6-7). I went to lessons, was told what to practice, what to do, and went home and practiced as I was told, setting the counter for precisely 30 minutes, 3 times a day, and trudging through painful scales, usually satisfied with running through my pieces top to bottom 3-5 times and calling it “done”.

Here’s the other one, for the hell of it Name: Vincent Lee Office(s) I am seeking: Woodwind Captain, Flute Section Leader VRHS Officer Questionnaire In my opinion, what are the strengths of the Vista Ridge Band? One of the luxuries the Vista Ridge Band enjoys the most is the exceptional quality of musicianship. We are fortunate to have extremely capable staff and teachers at all levels that have trained excellent musicians that strive for and expect the best.

Today, I attended the Austin Flute Society Young Artist Contest. As a senior I really, really wanted to prove myself, both to….myself as well as to others. Saving the lengthy narrative, I placed 1st. I didn’t scream, nor did I jump up in victory, I just felt very, very grateful towards everyone that’s helped me get to where I am today. Thank you lesson teacher, past self, and each of my flute friends that have been with me every step of the way.

This was the leadership questionnaire I submitted May of 2014 to apply for Woodwind Captain and Flute Section Leader for the 2014-2015 marching season. I’m actually super proud of this piece and want to share it with anyone interested. My favorite sections especially are numbers 3 and 5. Keep in mind I wrote this after Scheherazade, when Danza de la Rosa didn’t even exist yet.

Oops, never did finish that last post on leadership, did I? (Read it here: https://williewillus.wordpress.com/2013/05/20/on-leadership-and-the-vista-ridge-hs-band/) That season of 2013 went on to become the greatest ever in Vista Ridge Band history, advancing to the State Marching Contest and placing third. We even qualified for Midwest and then made the BOA San Antonio finals! Now, it’s nearing the end of my senior year…where did the time go? I’m now the Woodwind Captain in addition to Flute Section Leader, which basically means my SL capabilities have limited extent over the other woodwind sections as well.

This piece of writing was written for my band director, who, after our Midwest trip, requested that we write about it, in order to convince the school board / administrators that fine arts makes a difference. Here it is reproduced exactly as it was written.. Our Process(ion) Among all of the experiences I’ve had in high school band, traveling to and performing at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra clinic ranks among the top, if not as the top of them.