This is the last post this month from our Fonville Morisey Youngsville office in their “Branch Bits” series. Special thanks to Brian Pate and his team for contributions this month! This particular piece is written by Brian himself as he trekked with the kids for this very special trip.
Performing at the annual Carowinds Theme park “Festival of Music” is a real treat!
WFR Middle Band at Carowinds. Image courtesy of Brian Pate.
The Wake Forest Rolesville Middle School Concert Band traveled to Carowinds in York, SC to perform for the Festival of Music on Friday May 25, 2012. While there the band received a rating of “Excellent” from the judges.
The Festival of Music included nine weekends of music from choral and band groups all over North Carolina and South Carolina. The students get a unique opportunity to perform at the Amphitheater at Carowinds Paladium, a venue generally reserved for some of the biggest concert draws in the USA. Here’s the band’s performance of Cascade Festival Overture -
Under the direction of Saundra Grogan, 53 students in grades seven and eight performed three pieces: Cascade Festival Overture by Mark Williams, Nightsong by Richard Sausedo and Herndon Exaltations by Robert W. Smith.
After receiving their “Excellent” rating, the students descended on the Carowinds Theme Park to enjoy the rides for the rest of the afternoon. The favorite ride by far was “The Intimidator” roller coaster that is the tallest, longest and fastest roller coaster in the southeast!
“I am so proud of these kids! They have worked very hard and have been such a great group of kids to work with,” said Grogan.
If you would like to enjoy a live performance from this group, you can see them at 6pm tonight, Thursday May 31, 2012 at the Wake Forest Rolesville Middle School Auditorium. You can also view their performance of Nightsong on YouTube as well.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
This is so cool! Thanks for this feature, and thanks to Mr. Pate for donating 16 hours of his time May 25th! It makes it easy when I have such supportive band parents:)
Saundra Grogan
Our pleasure, Sandra! Brian is such a huge supporter of all things Wake Forest…and a good writer/photographer/videographer too! We were happy to include this piece in our blog. Congratulations to the students. Sounds like it was well-deserved!