WS/FCS Marching Band Jamboree

By Press release submission

Oct 25, 2021

Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools issued the following announcement on October 20.

OCTOBER 20, 2021 – On Tuesday Oct. 26, marching bands from high schools throughout the district will gather at West Forsyth High for a rousing 25th Anniversary Marching Band Jamboree.

Before the night is over, people will have the opportunity to hear every high school band and to enjoy the bonus of seeing Superintendent Tricia McManus conduct.

Don Martin, a former superintendent who is now a Forsyth County Commissioner, will also conduct.

As the time for the jamboree approaches, Patricia Hughes Ball, the Director of Bands at West Forsyth, and her students are honing their presentation, and Katie Sellers, the President of West Forsyth Band Fans, and other volunteers in the organization are zipping around making sure everything is ready.

Andrew Craft, the Director of K-12 Arts Education for Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, knows it will be a wonderful experience for all.

“The WS/FCS Marching Band Jamboree has always been one of my favorite Arts Department events,” Craft said.

“The spirit of having all the high school bands supporting each other as they perform their half-time shows and comradery of performing together at the end is what the Jamboree is all about.”

“We are proud of all of the students who are performing at the Jamboree and look forward to watching them in action.”

Seniors Hank Ewing and Cameron Sluder are two of the West Forsyth Marching Band members who will be participating.

“I’m looking forward to playing,” said Ewing, who plays clarinet.

“The adrenaline kicks in when you start walking onto the field.”

Band 96He is also looking forward to connecting with members of the bands at the other high schools. So is Sluder, who plays the snare drum.

“It’s cool meeting with that many people who have the same general interest,” Sluder said.

He thoroughly enjoys jamborees.

“I get really excited, especially the day of,” Sluder said.

From participating in different music activities over the years, Hughes Ball said, students in bands at different schools get to know each other and it’s great for them to be able to come together at the Jamboree.

“We get to be a full band community,” she said.

Each band has its own style, Hughes Ball said, and she also enjoys getting to experience those different styles at a jamboree.

Hughes Ball made a point of praising and thanking the volunteers with the West Forsyth Band Fans.

band 97“They make it possible,” she said. “It’s a collaboration of everybody.”

Sellers and her husband, Bradley, have three children who have participated in band at West Forsyth, and Sellers has been working hard to support the West Forsyth Marching Band since their daughter, Ashley, who is now at junior at N.C. State University, came to West Forsyth as a freshman.

Their daughter Lilly is now freshman at App State, and their son, Josh, who plays the clarinet, is a junior at West Forsyth.

When marching band events were suspended because of COVID 19 restrictions, Sellers put in fewer hours each week. But during regular days, she might put in 30 hours a week supporting the bands at West Forsyth at performances, competitions, camps and such.

Other volunteers also put in many hours. One focus of Sellers’ work has been bringing families into the program.

“My heart for this is getting families involved – creating a community of support,” Sellers said.

The $5 admission to the Jamboree will be used to support Band Fans projects. The organization pays to repair instruments, to buy instruments, and for such supplies as reeds. It also brings in musicians to conduct clinics and to speak to students.

Band 94Sellers thinks the music genes in her children came from her husband who sang in the chorus.

“I was cheerleading and a gymnast,” she said.

In retrospect, part of her wishes she had joined the music world in school because she has seen how valuable it has been for her children and what an incredible community it is.

Ewing took piano lessons when he was younger and has been playing the clarinet since he was in the sixth grade at Clemmons Middle. He no longer remembers why he decided to try the clarinet. He does know he ended up liking it right away.

Asked what he likes about performing, he said, “The emotion and passion and the way you can make it sound. It’s more than notes on a sheet of paper.”

And he enjoys the camaraderie.

“A lot of people have that same passion for music,” he said.

“It’s a family almost.”

After graduating, Ewing plans to head to App State or the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and major in computer science.

Band 45Sluder also took piano lessons when he was younger. He took up percussion in middle school at Meadowlark Middle.

“I thought the drummers were the coolest people,” he said.

He instantly discovered that percussion was the right path for him.

There’s the music, the camaraderie, and the sense of peace it can provide.

“It’s a good stress reliever,” he said.

Sluder is thinking about heading to the University of Tennessee to major in civil engineering.

As a member of a construction team that builds horse barns in Davie County, he is already getting a taste of that world.

Before jamborees were suspended because of COVID 19 restrictions, judges would come to jamborees and offer constructive feedback. This year, the focus is on simply savoring the opportunity to play together again.

Band 89With performances scheduled every 15 minutes, each school’s performance will be relatively short.

The West Forsyth marching band will be performing “Play Ball!” – a 7½-minute piece composed by Key Poulan.

Here is the schedule for the jamboree:

5:15 p.m. – “Star Spangled Banner”

5:30 p.m. – Parkland

5:45 p.m. – Carver

6 p.m. – Mount Tabor

6:15 p.m. – Walkertown

6:30 p.m. – North Forsyth

6:45pm – Reynolds

7 p.m. – Intermission

7:15 p.m. – East