Four DeKalb County High School band students made the final cut to perform in the Honors Band at Tennessee Tech University.

Ayden Jones and Jayden Wildes on trumpet, B.J. Mosley, tenor sax, and Owen Warren, tuba were selected to perform during the 60th Annual Festival of Winds and Percussion, Feb. 10 and 11 at the Bryan Fine Arts Building at TTU. For their audition the students had to play 3 major scales two octaves, a chromatic scale, and sight read two pieces of music.

“They checked in early Friday morning, and they literally rehearsed for ten hours total Friday and Saturday,” D.C.H.S. Band Director Don Whitt says. “They were performing some rigorously challenging music.”

The event began with a meeting between directors, students in grades 9-12 from Middle Tennessee, and a 25-year-old composer, Katahj Copley from Austin, Texas, who wrote one of the pieces they were going to perform.

“Katahj is a much younger composer, and all of the students really were enamored with him because usually composers to the students are thought of to be like Beethoven and are like old and dead,” Whitt said with a laugh. “So, it is nice to see someone who is almost their age that connects with them on their level. They also had a master’s class taught by techs and professors of the university.”

Whitt says it was a wonderful learning experience for the high school band students.

“They met composers and worked with professors that potentially they could be seeing in the future if some pursue a career in music,” Whitt says. “They learned more about their instrument, and they got to meet students their own age with the same passion for music as they have.”

“With that said, I really enjoy when all of our students get to have an educational experience like this. In my career events going all the way to when I tried for honor band at Alabama I got to have the same experiences and meet potential colleagues and network   This is how some of this is done. I hope more of DCHS band students will get an opportunity like this in the future for other honor bands and similar situations.

The next time the public can catch the band in action will be March 23 when the jazz ensemble performs a benefit concert at The Harvester Center. Music will be from 6-7 p.m. Doors open at 5:30. There will be no cover charge, but donations directly to the DCHS Band are encouraged.  On Saturday, March 25, the Harvester will have a 1920s Spring Formal with the Beasley Court Big Band. Proceeds will go to the band.