The American School Band Directors Association [ASBDA] recently awarded Westview High School Band and Directors Mike Tucker and Jennifer Cupples with the Award of Distinction in Concert Performance for the 2022-23 school year. The accomplishment recognized the outstanding achievement of a Superior Rating in every category from all adjudicators in the West Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association Concert
Festival Performance Assessment.
Each year, high school bands across the nation prepare for Concert Festival Performance Assessment. Band directors work with students for months to help them perform musical compositions on an exceptional level with the goal of achieving a top-level designation of Superior. In addition, these top tier players must have an advanced understanding of notation, dynamics, expression, musicality, and how to perform pieces of music for a live audience.
Mr. Trobaugh detailed the rarity of achieving a selection of this caliber.
“It is an exceedingly rare occasion for bands to achieve a Superior rating with such excellence. There are those bands, however, that do perform at an incredible level of their students’ ability and mastery. Westview High School Band is one of those. Not only were they awarded an overall Superior rating, but they also obtained the very rare unanimous Superior rating in each of the subcategories from all of the adjudicators who judged the festival performances,” Trobaugh said.
He went on to explain that a composite score that earns a band the highest rating of Superior requires a great deal of preparation and planning.
“This superlative does not happen in a vacuum; it takes unique educators and a great deal of mastery in their pedagogy to prepare students,” Trobaugh said. “It is my honor, in recognition of outstanding achievement for earning a Superior Rating in each category from each educator in regional concert performance assessment in the 2022-23 school year, to give this award of distinction in concert performance to the Westview High School Band, Directors Mike Tucker and Jennifer Cupples.”
The
Westview HS Band performed three selections, Imperial March [King], Kentucky 1800 [Grandman], and Lindbergh Variations [Sheldon], at the @West TN Band and Orchestra Association Concert Festival on March 17 at UT Martin. Following their performance, the group moved to an alternate location to be judged on sight-reading a piece of music. Sight-reading is the process of reading a work of music without having seen it before, and then performing it.
Director Jennifer Cupples believes that a strong foundational knowledge of music helped them secure the honor.
“Nothing happens overnight. A recognition this rare is years in the making. Director Tucker begins working with these students in middle school and builds on that base of knowledge over the course of years of direct instruction. We take music education very seriously, and our students work extremely hard. To say we are proud is an understatement,” she stated.
Director Mike Tucker credits the accomplishment to the hard work of the students.
“It’s about the students. They’ve worked very, very hard and this recognition is well deserved. We can’t truly express how proud we are of each one of them. We would like to thank the parents, community, and school administration who provide so much support and love. They are there with us when we fall short and when we excel. They are all a part of this award,” commented Tucker.
“This accomplishment is extraordinary,” remarked Director of Schools Jeff Cupples. “The commitment of these teachers to their students is inspirational. This national recognition is yet another example of how our educators go above and beyond to help students excel. We are fortunate to have the best educators in the nation right here in Weakley County,” he said.