Student musicians in the Franklin High School Flute Ensemble and Trombone Ensemble performed at the Chamber Music National Festival, part of the Music For All National Festival held in Indianapolis from March 14-16.
Both of Franklin’s groups joined the ranks of the nation’s most elite scholastic bands, orchestras, percussion ensembles, chamber music ensembles, and jazz bands in performance during the festival. To receive an invitation to perform at the National Festival, each musical group submitted an audition recording that went through a rigorous adjudication process by a panel of judges. Franklin’s Flute Ensemble and Trombone Ensemble were 2 of only 15 ensembles chosen to perform at the Chamber Music National Festival.
Members of the Franklin High School Flute Ensemble are: Soumitra Pillay, Kate Sanborn, Jamie Smith, Caitlin Townsend, Jessi Williams, and Henrique Yonemoto.
The flute program included Dawn Carol by Margaret Lowe; Council on Illumination by Randall Woolf; A Gaelic Offering by Catherine McMichael, including Movement I: Rose Cottage and Movement II: The Doubtful Wife; Londonderry Air, arranged by Ricky Lombardo; and Railroaded by Nicole Chamberlain. The flutes performed Dawn Carol, scattered among the audience members, in pitch black darkness. Greg Bimm, Director of Bands at Marian Catholic High School and one of the most renowned band directors in the U.S., commented that the performance brought him to tears.
Members of the Franklin High School Trombone Ensemble (pictured at the top of this article) are: Clay Bibby, Christian Darr, Josh Fritz, Nick Hoffmann, Patrick Lama, Karson Lewis, Ian Robbins, and Colin Sylvester.
The trombone program included A Call for Courage – Fanfare for Trombone Choir by Benjamin Dean Taylor; Scarborough Fair by Bill Reichenbach; Geminids by Alex Ring Gray; Song for Japan by Steven Verhelst; and Agnus Dei by Josef Rheinberger. The ensemble’s performance of Geminids enthralled the audience as the horns’ tones were distorted electronically through the microphones, live in performance.
Jacob Campos, Franklin’s director of chamber ensembles, added, “I can’t feel anything but immensely blessed to watch my students perform amongst the best and broaden their perspective on their work.”
About The Franklin Band
The Franklin Band is the current and 7-time Tennessee marching band state champion and Contest of Champions Grand Champion, earning the Governor’s Cup for this distinction. They are also a 2014 recipient of the prestigious Sudler Shield, presented by the John Philip Sousa Foundation to high school, youth, and international marching bands of world class excellence. A proud Bands of America participant since 2008, Franklin placed 3rd in class AAA at the Bands of America Grand Nationals Championship in November 2018, finishing 17th in the nation with their semi-finals performance. Seven of Franklin’s ensembles have been invited to perform at the Music For All National Festival–Percussion Ensemble and Wind Ensemble (2013), Chamber Music Ensemble (2015), Percussion Ensemble and Saxophone Quartet (2017), and Flute Ensemble and Trombone Ensemble (2019). Franklin’s Wind Ensemble also performed the 2017 Tennessee Bandmasters Hall of Fame Induction Concert at the Tennessee Music Education Association Conference.
The band is under the direction of David Aydelott and assistant director Jacob Campos.
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