TDHS music department gears up for competition season

Kelly, who has been working with the TDHS band for the last five years, came into the position the year that the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and suddenly had to navigate teaching music classes online.

“I was really lucky the high school continued to keep all of the music classes as their own thing even though were online,” Kelly said.

Not being able to get together to practice, Kelly had to get creative with assignments. Some of them included utilizing online programs to play concert pieces that students could practice and record playing their parts with, which Kelly would then critique and grade, as well as assignments like designing their own concerts, taking a virtual tour of concert venues around the world and comparing their differences.

“We tried a couple of different things to see what would kind of stick with the kids,” Kelly said.

Coming back from virtual learning held its own set of trials, as COVID-19 guidelines at the time prevented students from practicing indoors, but Kelly felt the chance for the students to get together and hear each other play was worth it.

“Having concert band at 8 a.m. in the middle of March outside on the field was not the most enjoyable, but being able to actually hear the music performed as a group, and the kids … they missed a lot of the camaraderie that comes along with being in music class,” Kelly said, “So it was really nice coming back together in person.”

While dropping off a bit, since coming back together in person, the music department is slowly beginning to grow again, “Numbers are kind of back to where they were before COVID, and the program is growing quite a lot, at least as far as the band is going,” Kelly said.

Another area in which the department is growing is competition. Back in October, the TDHS marching band participated in the Century Showcase, a competition part of the Norhtwest Association for Performing Arts (NWAPA), a competitive marching circuit for the pacific northwest area including Oregon, Washington, northern California and Idaho. Kelly believes it may have been the first time a band from The Dalles has ever participated in the competition, and with their group of 25 — one of the smallest groups to participate — the TDHS band placed 18 out of 38 groups.

“We come in at a pretty big disadvantage in the marching area, but the kids really pulled it together, and the fact that we were in a competitive spot, even though we were at such as detriment, it really spoke to how well the kids handled that,” Kelly said.

Concert band also held their own in competition, achieving qualifying festival scores for state championships last year.

“I don’t think The Dalles has qualified for years,” Kelly said, “that put us in kind of a lottery system to see whether we made it or not. We weren’t fortunate enough to make the cut off last year, so I’m hoping the fact that we even got those scores, we can keep that momentum rolling and continue to qualify again this year.”

Jazz band had also qualified for, and had the opportunity to attend state Jazz championships last year as well, but due to conflicting circumstances with the state track and field championships — which several of the band members were set to participate in, with a few seniors even receiving scholarships for track, according to Kelly — the band made the decision to not attend the championships that year.

“There was just no way for us to make both happen,” Kelly said, “they opted for track, which is a really hard decision for them to make, so I’m very happy that we were able to have those mature conversations in a high school group and have I come away where nobody was hurt or upset in any way.”

As the music department gears up for this year’s sets of festivals, Kelly’s goals for competition is simply for the groups to do their best and work towards improving themselves from where they were before.

“They way I approach competitions and festivals, it’s never us against somebody else, it’s always us against ourselves in the rubric,” Kelly said. “We’re never going to have the same situation as the band next to us … so why would we want to compare ourselves to another group? Let’s just be the best that we can be.”

With festivals giving students the opportunity to travel and visit new places, Kelly is excited to add fun experiences to the trips as well. After participating in an upcoming music festival in Jewell, Ore., in April, the band will get to head to Seaside for an overnight coast trip.

“Even though the coast is only four-ish, five hours away, there’s still kids that have never gone to the Oregon coast, so it’s nice to have that first experience with them,” Kelly said.

Overall, Kelly’s goals for the students in the music department is that, no matter what they’re plans are in the future, they’ve walked away with an appreciation for music.

“If I go my entire career with never having a student become a music major, I’m okay with that as long as every student still appreciates music after their done,” Kelly said, “I’m still in touch with most of our alumni in the last five years, and almost every single one of them is playing somewhere. That’s the dream.”

When asked if there was anything he wanted to share with the community about the music department, Kelly wanted to note that their performances are always accessible to everyone. “All of the concerts and the community events that we do are always going to be free to the community members,” Kelly said, also noting that all concerts are livestreamed to the TDHS music YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/@TDHSmusic).

In April, TDHS will be host to the Tri-Valley Band Festival, where the concert band will be competing with Crook County, Estacada, Gladstone, Madras and Molalla for a spot in the 3A/4A State Band championship in May. “That’s our big competition, if we take first place in that, we automatically get a guaranteed spot at state,” Kelly said.

The music department’s first upcoming festival will be taking place March 5 at the Oregon State University High School Band Festival in Corvallis. An end of year concert for both concert and jazz band will be taking place May 14 at 7 p.m. at the TDHS auditorium, and will also be livestreamed on YouTube. For a full list of upcoming festivals and performances, check out the TDHS music calendar (teamup.com/ks2zf1k3757yteaoub).

For more information on the TDHS music department, go to the activities page on the TDHS website. For updates on what's going on in the music department, find them on Instagram @tdhs_music.