Christian Peterson
reporter.riverbendnews@gmail.com
“The purpose of the North Florida Honor Band is to provide a consistent source of camaraderie for Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Gilchrist, Suwannee and Union Counties,” the North Florida Honor Band website reads. “Promoting and celebrating band students on their individual musical achievements in an honor band setting to further their growth as a musician.” While this is the group’s mission statement, they prove it every year by pushing all the students in the band to reach their limits and beyond.
This is exactly what happened to five students from the Sound of Suwannee. Lillie Woods, Kayleigh King, Benson Nissley, Joshua Cabrera-Melgar and Jacarion Armstead all auditioned for the honor band and found themselves selected as some of the best performers in the state. Wood secured a spot playing the flute, King secured a spot on the Bb clarinet, Nissley secured his spot playing the French horn, Cabrera-Melgar performed with percussion, and Armstead earned his spot playing the trombone. The audition took place in December, however, the performance didn’t take place until February. The students worked closely with Dr. David Plack, the Director of Athletic Bands at Florida State University. They worked hard throughout Thursday, Feb. 7, and Friday, Feb. 8, to perform some astounding pieces and prove their worth as up-and-coming musicians at Union County High School.
“They performed extremely well,” said Sound of Suwannee Director Clayton McPeak on Facebook. “(They) are able to take what they have learned back to our school to be a student leader to the other members in our program. It is very encouraging to see that each year, more and more of our students are interested and awarded the opportunity to perform in these types of groups.” To learn more about the Sound of Suwannee, visit their Facebook page by searching “Sound of Suwannee” and keep an eye out for their future events.