This year the Christian Brothers Band aimed its sights to places very far from Memphis. The band’s goal is to play in all fifty states nationwide and this year not only did we play in one new state, we played in six. We have now officially performed in the great states of Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, California, and Utah. The band's spring trip was a major highlight of the year, but we still performed and created excellent experiences for folks here in Memphis, and it all starts in the fall semester. With three separate ensembles working to put on multiple performances throughout the fall, The band was at its busiest. Each student showed true dedication and hard work to make sure the Pep Band, Silver Cornet Band, and Concert Band were up to par and sounding beautiful for our upcoming performances. 

 

As football season started our Pep Band brought the hype with our first performance on August 22nd against Feyette Ware Highschool and kept the spirit alive during each and every game. Senior night was an exceptionally wonderful night for our Pep Band as it was against our biggest rival MUS. Not only did our football team win on senior night against our biggest rival, but it was a fun night honoring our seniors who have dedicated themselves to not only the Pep Band, but the Band Program itself. 

 

While our Pep Band was still playing strong almost every Friday night, our Silver Cornet Band was hard at work preparing for their upcoming performances. Starting the year off for the Silver Cornet Band they played at Hutchison School for a parade they were hosting and it was a lovely event and a great way for the Silver Cornet Band to ease into playing again. Kicking off some of our more notable events was the yearly performance at the Massing of the Colors on November 9th. As a Band we hold this event dear as we honor fallen veterans and those currently serving our nation in the military. Another fantastic event we participate in that honors our veterans is the Veterans Day Parade here in Memphis. Other notable events this band played for include playing for our Costa Rican exchange students, the Day of the Dead parade, Grandparents Day at CBHS, at St. Paul’s School, Holy Rosary School and performing at Opus Retirement Home here in Memphis. Though most of these events are pretty standard for our Historic Band, we had one event that stood out. This year we played for the dedication of the first ever stand alone FBI building here in Memphis on March 30th. Another reason this event is so special is because the first year that our current band director, Mr. Bolton, conducted the band for the public as band president, was for the dedication of the old FBI offices here in Memphis. This event was so heartwarming and full of hope not only because of the reunion our band director held with the FBI, but because of the drive the FBI has to keep Memphis safe. And the new building that we helped dedicate is a part of that drive for safety in Memphis. Our Wind Ensemble which also practiced during the fall semester had some major performances as well. They played at the St. Cecilia celebration on November 21st, a retirement community in Germantown on December 4th, and opening up for a St. Martin in the Fields Wind Quintet Concert on April 16th at the University of Memphis.

 

                  While the Pep Band and the Silver Cornet Band were hard at work, our Concert Band was working hard on our fall concert. Notably during this concert the band held two soloists, Joshua O’Mary playing “Concertino for Tuba and Band”, and Abraham Pantoja featured on guitar in Blues Be King, which was performed for the 100th birthday of Memphis’s own B.B. King.  Most of the works performed at this concert were extremely important and played in honor of many different people and events. The “Palestrina Suite” was played in honor of the Renaissance composer Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina for the 500th anniversary of his birth. Another very important piece we played was “Fanfare and Jubilee” because 2025 is a Jubilee year in the Catholic Church. Ave Verum Corpus is a beautiful piece, and this year was played in honor of Bill McKee. Bill McKee holds a very important place in the band and has supported us in numerous ways. One way he supported the band program was through our jazz program. Not only was he the conductor of our jazz band, but he also named it. The “Walnut Groove” has never been better and its success would have never come to fruition if it weren’t for Bill McKee. For every concert the Concert Band holds there is always a student concert held for all students at Christian Brothers. The Student Concert was held on the 11th of December, and the public concert was held on December 14th. The Concert Band also plays for school masses providing the entire mass repertoire.

 

There are also individual events and competitions that band members take part in. One of these events is the regional band competition for Tennessee called All West. Many of the band students prepare an excerpt given by the All West committee and audition with it for chair placements in the All West band. Not only do we have a plethora of students make All West each year, we even have multiple students make All State each year which is the statewide band competition. Another competitive event like this is the Solo and Ensemble festival. Each student in our band prepares a solo and a small ensemble and plays a piece for a judge to be graded. Almost all of our band students either get a perfect 1 on their scores or a 2 which not only showcases the individual skill levels of our students, but since the judges give feedback, it also helps our students get better and think about new things while playing. Some of the band students also take part in other honor bands other than All West. One of which being the UofM honor band where students compete against each other for chair placements in a band set up by the University of Memphis.

 

Our Band also hosts different events or small ensembles to come and play for the school. The band program hosts an annual honor band clinic for middle schoolers encouraging them to not only join the CBHS Band program, but also to simply continue playing music in high school.  The band also hosts an annual fundraiser called A Taste of CBHS where the jazz band performs and different restaurants will serve food for everyone who is at the event. This year the band hosted an extremely prestigious string quartet to come play for the school as well. Each member of the quartet were playing a Stratavarius instrument which are considered to be the best instruments ever made, and they are all one of a kind and irreplaceable. The total value of the four string instruments came out to be about 50 million dollars and the concert they played was absolutely breathtaking. 

 

The start of the spring semester is really focused on our Jazz band and our Concert band. Our Jazz Band held multiple performances with the highlight being A Taste of CBHS. This performance is the Band's main fundraiser, but it also shows off the quality of our program and encourages parents to introduce their kids to the band program. Other performances include the band Hall of Fame induction on January 18th, the performance at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church on April 8th, and the performance at Woodland and St. Francis on February 25th.

 

This year in the Spring our Concert Band had one of its biggest years ever playing in six different states during the trip the band took over spring break. We visited and played in Arizona, California, Utah, New Mexico, Colorado, and Nevada and the trip spanned from March 9th to March 17th. With performances starting on March 10th, we were able to play on the Hoover Dam itself for any visitors who wished to hear. The students were all taken inside the dam itself for a tour as well. That afternoon the band set out for Route 66 and the Silver Cornet Band gave a wonderful performance inside the Route 66 Museum. Afterward the band was able to tour the Museum, and we got dinner at a beautiful classic diner right off of Route 66. March 11th was most students’ favorite day as they got to tour the Grand Canyon and walk the trail along the Canyons Edge. Not only this, but the Silver Cornet Band played inside the Shrine of Ages right off the Grand Canyon, and the Concert Band performed Inside one of the Grand Canyons visitor centers. March 12th we set out for the Four Corners Monument which is the exact location where the state borders of Arizona, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico meet. Students were able to walk around to different Native American vendors who sold hand made goods as their stands. And afterwards the Silver Cornet Band performed at the Colorado and New Mexico welcome signs officially checking off two more states on the band's performance list. That afternoon the band made it to Monument Valley which is under the jurisdiction of the Navajo Nation, and we were able to take a driving tour of the area. The Valley was beautiful with incredible natural rock formations that have been named and preserved by the Navajo Nation. Many of the pieces we played are dedicated to the Native Americans and Monument Valley itself. “Mesa Dances”, was inspired by Monument Valley, and Ralph Hale, our former band director, wrote the work “Monument Valley” which the band performed as well. Two other pieces we played called “Dinosaurs” and “Ritual Fire Dance” actually take aspects of native dance music and vocal music and put them into a modern band setting. On March 13th the band performed for local elementary school called Tse’Bii’Nidzisgai and afterwards we drove through and toured Zion National Park. March 14th we traveled through Death Valley and the beautiful natural salt basins that form there. In Death Valley the Silver Cornet Band performed to a sold out crowd at the Amargosa Opera House. This opera house was actually built originally as Corkhill Hall in the 1920s while the area was still largely a mining operation, but later the town lost many residents as the mining operations stopped and the hall slowly decayed. That was until a very famous Broadway dancer in the 1960s named Marta Becket broke down near the rundown hall and loved it so much that she painted the entire hall herself and turned it into the Amargosa Opera House. March 15th the band settled in Las  Vegas for the last day of the trip and the Historic Band performed at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church which is the oldest Catholic Church in Las Vegas. After the performance students were able to roam Fremont Street and view many different areas in Las Vegas. With the trip coming to a close the Concert Band had their student concert on April 23rd and their public concert on April 26th in which the the band closed with selections from the movie "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly."

 

This year the band has made huge strides towards its goal of playing in all 50 states, and has truly impacted its students in ways that will never be forgotten. As the ex-Vice President of the Christian Brothers Gold Band, I couldn’t have asked for a better year or a better experience and almost every student in the band would agree.

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Joshua O’Mary
Band Vice-President