BCHS Band Hosts Movie Night Concert

Mon, 03/30/2015 - 9:26am — Diane Dyer

The Butler County High School Band Boosters had their fourth annual Movie Night Concert on Tuesday night, at the full-to-capacity BCHS Auditorium. The event featured 6 pieces from the movies Frozen, The Lion King, Fantasia, The Wizard of Oz, Lord of The Rings, and Star Wars, played by the 130 piece band, and interspersed with commercials produced by BCHS students.

Allison Kurfiss and Sarah Williams
One commercial receiving a particularly strong reaction from the audience, was the dramatic Danville testimonials, a collection of comedic sob stories from Danville veterans, those who played the November 1, event. The commercial was a favorite of BCHS students Shauna Hunt and Chloe Dockery, who described it positively as “melodramatic” and “drawn out”
“I liked all of the visual effects and commercials… it makes it more entertaining.” Student Rylee McKee commented.
“ Danville was our semi finals [for] marching band, it was snowing before we went on the field. There were…Color Guard [members] with their hands stuck to poles.” Sarah Williams, BCHS student and band member, stated. Sarah plays clarinet, and has been in most of the previous movie night concerts.

The band had some difficulties when preparing for the concert. According to Sean Whittinghill, Tuba player for BCHS band, it took longer than expected: “I would say a couple of months due to the snow and [Mr. Ausbrooks] being out for a while. He had the flu, and was out for most of the month of January, so we only had a student teacher here.”
Another difficulty according to Williams, was the new piece itself: “I would say The Wizard of Oz was [hardest to learn] because [of] so many moving parts that the clarinets had… it was really fun to learn… because it was challenging…. The Wizard of Oz was new…. In a way it was easier [playing familiar songs] because you knew how it was supposed to sound. But...when you are reading a piece that you’ve heard, it’s sometimes written a different way than it sounds.”

Whittinghill agreed: “The Wizard of Oz was really cool, because we had never done anything like that before, and I didn’t think that the score would be as intricate as it was. Plus… I did have a solo.”
Most students and attendees had their favorite parts, but Princess Leia, known to family as Tera Hampton, liked it all: “It was all really good, I like the movies.” When asked what inspired her to choose this costume, she replied, “We were joking around last night. I was going to just wear a white t shirt and the buns, but then we decided to do a bit more.”
In addition to the concert, there was also a costume showcase for the kids, and a raffle to benefit the BCHS band, which sold $120 worth of tickets and awarded $60 to the winner, number 207181.
Jason Ausbrooks, Band Director for the event encouraged community members to attend more band activities, and made the following statement: “You know we’re in a small community with little to no industry, but yet our kids still with those adversities still shine against anybody else in the state, and that is very commendable, because of your support.