The Delphi Community High School Band performs many times throughout the school year: Homecoming, Veteran’s Day, the quarterly concerts, etc. Every few years, the band takes a trip, usually to Disney World in Orlando, FL, but most recently to New York City. Impressive, right? Well, on the years that they don’t take a trip, the DCHS Band performs in a contest sponsored by ISSMA that takes place at Jefferson High School, and this year was extremely different than others.

For months leading up to the performance (after Christmas and during the Dinner Theatre), the band kids practiced the three songs that director Mr. Dennison carefully chose―“Americans We” by Henry Fillmore, “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Robert Sheldon, and “Factory Riffs” by Matt Conaway. There were lots of illnesses, a few medical emergencies, and some surprise guests (courtesy of “Student for a Day”), but the DCHS Band soldiered on like the well-oiled machine no one seems to realize they are.

On Saturday, April 8, 2017, the band kids dressed in their recently acquired performance outfits (tuxedos for the guys; long, black dresses for the girls), boarded the bus, and left for Jeff at ten in the morning. They arrived, warmed up at 10:50 am, performed their songs at 11:30 am, and then proceeded to the sight-reading room immediately after.

The sight-reading portion of the contest is separate from the performance portion but no less important. The band will enter the room, sit as they usually do when they practice, and get handed sheet music in manilla envelopes. They are instructed to leave the music in the envelopes and to remove all pencils and/or pens. Once everyone has the envelope with their part, the band is allowed to take out their music and examine it. From that point, they have ten minutes to look over it and practice it in any way they would like―singing, tapping, sizzling―except for playing. (Also, the director cannot sing along with. He or she can only direct and help with unknown notes and give instructions.) Once the ten minutes is up, the band gets one minute to tune and then they must play that piece for the very first time. Once it’s over, it’s over. The band returns to the gym and packs up their instruments.

The DCHS Band followed that itinerary to the mark, and each of the students, aside from the ones who were picked up by their parents, were safely seated on the bus when they learned the incredible news―they got gold in both performance and sight-reading!

Not only is this just the fifth time that the band has gotten gold at ISSMA, it’s also the first time in fifteen years that they’ve gotten a gold! You can clearly imagine the happiness of the band kids.

“It was nerve-wracking, but I think we did very well. Hopefully, we’ll continue to get better and grow as players and keep getting gold,” Elizabeth Walker, freshman, said.

“It’s pretty cool that you’re only here one year, and that you can do band and get gold and live forever on the wall,” Michelle Perler, foreign exchange student, said. Michelle is referring to the fact that the band students get to sign the back of the plaque which goes on the wall.

Band director Jay Dennison was also very excited about the gold. “This has only happened four other times at Delphi, so I’m very proud of the students. I hope the students had a good experience, and I hope we continue to grow from it,” said Mr. Dennison.