North Harford’s very own marching band represented at this year’s band assessment held at Havre de Grace High School on Monday March 31. The band not only competed against all of the high schools in Harford County, but also had the opportunity to listen to the other high schools perform as well.

“Before we left, I expected them to make the best music as they possibly could, enjoy the experience, and to play with focus,” explained band director Mr. David Wacyk.

The band performed their prepared music, which included “Ye Banks and Braes O Bonnies Doon” and “Shadow Rituals”.

“There was a lot of dissonance due to some odd intervals between various parts, some really difficult rhythms, etc. It was a super fun piece because it was so challenging,” stated senior band member Hannah Miller. “As far as preparing for assessment goes, there was a lot of repetition because of the nature of the piece. The band spent some time in sectionals, in which the instrument groups would gather separately and would work together on the most difficult parts for their section. A lot of hard work went into making this piece presentable.”

They also had to complete a sight reading at assessment, which consisted of the band members playing a piece of music that they have never seen or practiced before.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing our band coming together and doing well to recieve a good grade,” said sophomore Natalie Beyer.

According to Wacyk, the band practiced every class for three months to prepare for the festival. They even had additional  rehearsals after school hours to for additional practice because of the snow days that hit hard in the beginning of March.

All of the hard work and extra time put in paid off , and band received a score of 2. The scores are ranked from 1 to 3, with 1 being the highest score and must superior rating and 3 being the lowest score and needing improvement.

“It is an excellent rating and good learning experience that we can learn off of and use for our spring concert,” said Wacyk.

“As a chaperone, I was able to sit in the auditorium, and saw about four different schools’ performances. The students are there to be assessed, not to perform for an audience,” said teacher chaperone Mrs. Jennifer Chandler. “Seeing how elevated the band’s professionalism and skill as compared to bands of years past is really impressive.”

The music that the band selects plays a part in how they are graded. Schools can elect to play more challenging pieces, and the difficulty of the piece is accounted for as the bands are assessed. The bands can choose pieces with difficulty levels ranging from 1 to 6, with 1 being the hardest level, and 6 being the easiest. This year, North Harford’s band performed level 3 pieces.

“I expect them [the band] to make the best music as they possibly can and to enjoy the experience, and play with focus,” said Wacyk.

All of Wacyk’s dedication has not gone unnoticed by his students.

“Personally, I think Mr. Wacyk is fun to work with. He jokes around with his students and he genuinely cares about us,” shared Miller. “Another great thing about him as a teacher is the fact that he picks some pretty obscure pieces rather than sticking with strictly classical repertoire (classical pieces are beautiful and should be appreciated of course, but the variety is nice too).”