Photo: Grace Hu

From a bird's eye view, there are distinct bundles of shifting color huddled together. There is a tense, precious, pre-performance energy abuzz in the air, teeming with an elated zeal. On the field though, is when these students come to life, each move deliberate and effortless, honed with thousands of hours of practice.

This moment will last exactly 15 minutes, and the students involved in band, color guard, and dance can show off the trade they have mastered in front of a handful of judges and hundreds of audience members. This event, Band Night, took place Tuesday, October 1st. It allowed different high schools to gather, compete against one another, and prepare for the UIL coming up on Saturday, October 19th.

"You're going to see high school bands from Fort Bend ISD performing their UIL marching shows," Dulles Middle School Band Director Edward Odeh said. "And this is a practice run for them, it's pre-UIL, so they're going to get scores, they're going to get feedback from judges that they can then take and practice and work on over the next couple weeks before the real UIL contest."

Odeh ensures that the middle school bands, who come to support their respective high schools, make it inside and know where to sit. Band Night is a "good way for the community to come together and support [the] musicians and marching bands."

"It's cool for the middle school kids to come and watch the high school bands that they're going to feed and see what marching band is like," Odeh said. "And it's a great opportunity for the performers to play for an audience that enjoys what they're doing and is going to receive them well."

The director of the event is Jim Drew, who is also the director of fine arts. This is his 14th year hosting Band Night. He said that planning for the event "takes a couple of months."

"We hire the judges that you see downstairs," Drew said. "We have six judges that are giving comments and scoring the bands...I organize the schedule, book the stadium, and make sure all of the logistics are in place so that the event runs smoothly...I create the schedule, send that out to the directors, train all the directors on the flow of the evening, and then we show up and hope it all works."

While Drew takes on most of the heavy lifting, there are many other key players involved as well, such as the two Fine Arts Executive Assistants, Amy Cokenour and Sheila Drake.

"[We] hired the people to come and got the trucks and everything for the bands to bring in their equipment," Cokenour said. "There are also some guides that are down in the field and around to show the bands where to go and kind of direct them...We have the traffic controllers and parking lot attendants...It's our biggest event of the fall that we do."

Several other essential players include the videographer, the timekeeper, and the announcer. The videographer tapes each band and sends the videos to the respective band director. The timekeeper operates the clock at the end of the field, relating how much time is remaining, and the announcer introduces each band as they come out on the field.

"It's my job to keep track of the schedule of the entire show, and I have a script that I go off of, where I have specific points in which I need to enunciate," Announcer Kurt Kauffman said. "Another job is to convey emotion when [it's] the right time. For example, when I am announcing the name of a band, which is something that people like to cheer for... [I want to] build that up and communicate to the audience...when it is good for them to cheer. And knowing when to put tiny pauses in the script to allow for moments like that."

Watching over the judges and ensuring commentary goes smoothly is First Colony Middle School Head Band Director Joseph Slusser.

"I'm in charge of the recording software that is utilized for commentary and [the] scoring of the bands," Slusser said. "[I] make sure that the bands get the commentary that they need to improve for UIL."

The administrator for Theatre and Dance Jared Berry said that he made sure to come to Band Night since it is important in the district.

"I wanted to not only support all the bands that are here, but I also wanted to support the dance teams that are working," Berry said. "I thought the precision and the way they incorporated movement in such synchronous ways was really beautiful to see...even little, tiny movements as a band make a big difference."

Band Night is full of energy and excitement, and so many people work diligently behind the scenes to ensure that everything functions without any hiccups. Band too, operates the same way.

"I would say that high school band is probably one of the best things that you can do. The kids who are here would not do it if they did not love playing their instrument or being part of a group and a band is a family. For anyone who is thinking about being in a band or who has a child going into middle school and they start band, I encourage them to come out to see the high school bands anytime that they can...[to] foster that love of music early on."

Side Note: If you are interested in other district events organized by Director of Fine Arts Jim Drew, he said that he also organizes the following:

"I organize the String Fling, which is a beginning orchestra two-night event in Hopson Fieldhouse. We have a color guard preview. All the color guards [at Band Night] will do their show in the spring. And then we have several other events. We have a middle school one-act play contest coming up next month. We have Men's Fest Choir Festival, several of them. We have four or five zones, and that goes on throughout the fall semester. And then we have a dance classic and dance showcase in the spring."