On April 18, Derby High School Wind Ensemble and Derby High School Symphonic Band performed for judges at the Music Festival held at Wichita East High School.

Both bands received a 2 out of 5, with 1 being the best rating. To people on the outside, these scores may seem decent, but students and staff walked away disappointed.

For the past several years, Wind Ensemble has gotten 1s at festival and were hoping to keep their streak. They practiced on days school was out of session to get ready for contest. After they came off the stage, they knew it was not their best.

“I think we could have all performed better as a whole and individually,” said junior Brianna Reeves, who plays the flute in Wind Ensemble.

Band director Adam DeVault even told his class that he knew they could have done better. Throughout the semester he had told them to practice more. Since they had performed two college level pieces fairly well, he knew they could’ve gotten 1s if more effort was given. Symphonic Band had a similar experience.

According to junior Jeremiah Coleman, who plays the clarinet in Symphonic Band, he believes the group could have done better, but he was satisfied.

Travis Keller, the director for Symphonic Band, felt that the rating was justified. He was a little disappointed being that these were the pieces they worked on for months, but he is proud of his students for the hard work they put in.