MACON, Ga. — Central High School band director Michael Scott works all year to make the sounds of his concert band come together.
“Trombone, tuba, all orchestra, percussion instruments. We have contrabass clarinet, which is a very large clarinet, baritone, saxophone, so a lot of different instruments,” Scott said.
This group and the program's symphonic band are preparing for their annual state performance evaluation, and they've earned top scores for the last decade.
“We have consistently ranked or received a score of one and two. One being superior, which is the highest, and two being excellent, which still really, really good,” Scott said.
State evaluators score every high school concert performance band on a scale of five.
Tenth grader Dana Walker took up the French horn this year and says they're putting in the work.
“We do a lot of breathing exercises because breathing really helps with the instrument and getting the notes out clearly. We have practices after school and just keep on practicing,” Walker said.
“We're preparing all year. It's a skills-based assessment or skill-based evaluation so from day 1, August 1, the first day of school, we're talking about the skills that are going to be necessary to perform a high level concert program,” Scott said.
In addition to performing what they've prepared, they also have to sightread a piece they've never seen before.
“You get six minutes to look over it and then you get one shot to play it, so in that six minutes, you can't play a note on your instrument, but you can do whatever else you need to to understand the music in that six minutes,” Walker said.
Scott says he's hoping for another superior rating, but he'll be proud of his students no matter the outcome.
“As long as we get off the stage and they feel like they did their absolute best, I count that as success,” he said.
Scott says the state evaluation score reflects the quality of the program.
They'll perform at Houston County High School on Sunday.
MORE RELATED HEADLINES
STAY ALERT | Download our FREE app now to receive breaking news and weather alerts. You can find the app on the Apple Store and Google Play.
STAY UPDATED | Click here to subscribe to our Midday Minute newsletter and receive the latest headlines and information in your inbox every day.
Have a news tip? Email news@13wmaz.com, or visit our Facebook page.