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Two Bassett High School students were named to the All American Marching Band this week. Cole Edwards (left), the son of Nelson and Donna Edwards, and Keenan France (second from right), the son of Junior and Toni France, are shown with Army Capt. Kimberly Miller and Bassett band director Trey Harris. |
Friday, November 6, 2009
By ELIZA WINSTON - Bulletin Staff Writer
Two students from Bassett High School have been invited to join the All American Marching Band.
The Army sponsors the All American Bowl and All American Marching Band. High school seniors are selected to compete in the football game or play during the half-time show in the marching band.
Cole Edwards, 17, is one of the two selected candidates from Bassett High School. He plays the tenor. He will have to take a week off from school in January, but he is excited about the experience. He plans attend Virginia Tech next year, where he would like to join the marching band while majoring in engineering.
Keenan France, 17, plays the bass drum. He said he and Edwards both play in the drum line. He is planning on attending either James Madison University or Virginia Tech next year, where he would like to play in the marching band and possibly minor in music.
France’s sister was invited to the All American Marching Band last year, and France said he watched her perform the half time show then. This year he’s excited to get the experience of being in the band and not the bleachers.
Melissa Smith, a selection tour representative who owns Sports Link, which owns and produces the All American Bowl and Marching Band, said only 97 students from the United States are invited to play in the marching band each year.
This year there were more than 1,300 applicants, and a school can have a maximum of two people selected, she said. Having two people selected from one school is a great achievement, Smith said.
The band will perform during the half-time of the All American Bowl in San Antonio Texas. Smith said the Army will pay for all travel expenses.
Trey Harris, band director for Bassett High school, said the 97 selected musicians will have three days to learn a half-time show that would take most students at least two months to learn.
These students are the best of the best, and they pick everything up quickly, he said. Harris would know, because he taught the All American Band in 2008 and 2009. He has also been the band director at Bassett High School for the past 14 years, he said.
Students in the All American Marching Band are high achievers academically and musically, he said. The grade point average of all 97 students was around 3.8 last year, Harris said.
Seven or eight Bassett students submitted audition tapes to be selected by the All American Marching Band this year, Harris said. There are certain criteria musicians have to cover in the video, he said, but his biggest advice to students was not to put anything but their very best performance on the tape.
Harris said the Army uses the All American Bowl and All American Marching Band for recruiting. The Army is the biggest sponsor, and there are many career opportunities for musicians in the Army, he said. Wherever there is an Army base, there is a marching band soldiers can be a part of, he said.
The football team for the All American Bowl is made up of competitive football players nationwide, he said, and they may be recruited into the Army after graduating high school.
Many of the selected players go on to play pro football, Harris said, but those who do not make it professionally often go into the Army. |
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