The Darlington Bands proudly congratulate Xander Bickers, a seventh-grade trumpet player in the Middle School Band, for making the Middle School District VII Honors Band!
Making this Honors Band took tremendous preparation, as it is very competitive to make the honors ensembles of District VII. In order to do this, Xander traveled to Cass Middle School on Saturday, Dec. 7, and auditioned for two panels of judges. He had to memorize several scales on trumpet, prepare an etude, and sight read an excerpt. He stood among 73 other middle school trumpet players who were auditioning that day. However, Xander’s scores were high enough to win him a spot in the trumpet section. Xander is probably the first seventh-grade student from Darlington to ever make this Middle School Honors Band, and possibly the second Darlington Middle School Band member, in general, to ever win a spot at this event.
With this achievement, Xander will now travel to Fort Oglethorpe High School Feb. 6-8 and participate in the District VII Honors Band festival. He will play alongside other talented middle school band students and perform a concert after only a few short days of rehearsals.
Xander has been at Darlington and in the Darlington Middle School bands for the past two years. He has played in the Middle School Band, Middle School Jazz Band, and even our Stadium Band as a seventh-grade student. He began learning the trumpet in the fifth grade at Armuchee Elementary, the year before entering Darlington. Xander chose the trumpet because he liked how it sounded and how many different styles it could play. “Also, it just kind of fit me as a person,” he adds.
Currently, Xander’s favorite class is Band. When I asked him what he likes most about band, he said, “How we all advance together as we play. Just hearing us play it at first and comparing it to when we play it at the concert just thrilled me.” I think Xander has truly added to our team dynamic in the Middle School groups. I asked him how he has been a leader in the band, and he humbly said, “I wouldn't say I’m the strongest leader in our group, but I would definitely say I’m very encouraging and helpful if anybody needs it.” Indeed, Xander regularly offers to help the beginning students and the sixth-grade students in our Middle School groups.
Xander is also a member of our middle school basketball and baseball teams. This year, he plans to go out for track and field as well. He is also involved in his church. In fact, his most memorable performance on trumpet was playing "Taps" at a Memorial Day service for church.
Preparing for an audition is a difficult process for any middle school, or even high school musician. Xander had never done something like this and was certainly nervous at times during his practice sessions. Xander auditioned in front of two panels of judges. He went before two judges to perform his memorized scales and another two judges to play his etude and sight reading. He had to overcome nervousness, especially for the scales, which had to be played from memory. His hard work paid off, though! He is very excited to be heading to District Honors Band. In Xander’s own words, “I love music and meeting new people.” If you have met Xander before, you know those words are true, and District Honors Band will be the perfect event for him. He is also excited to hear how the group is able to put an entire concert together in a few short days.
When I asked him what he hope to take away from this District Honors Band experience, Xander listed four things: (1) Improve his trumpet technique, (2) improve his tone, (3) be surrounded by so many other talented players, and (4) learn to be flexible as new music is given to them.
I would like to add that I am so proud of Xander. He is probably the first seventh-grade student Darlington has ever had make Middle School District Honors Band and perhaps the second Darlington student in general to make this event. He is so deserving of this experience, as he has consistently been one of our most enthusiastic members of the Middle School Band. He is in the band room every morning to talk about the day. Very few other people will post on Middle School Band Chat at 6:30 a.m. to ask what we are doing in class that day. We have a great Middle School leadership group this year with several students who care deeply about the band, and I’m so glad to have Xander among them!
