January 29, 2020 316 PM
PRESIDIO — The Presidio High School Blue Devil Band has been staying busy this month, with festivals in Andrews and Crane.
First, there was the All-Region Band Festival in Andrews. Held on Saturday, January 18, it was organized by Region 6 of the Association of Texas Small School Bands. The festivities consisted of a day and a half of rehearsals, followed by a grand concert by the Symphonic and Honor Bands.
These are “very prestigious bands,” said Presidio ISD band director Lucy Ferguson — and Presidio students had auditioned with hundreds of others to perform in them. Making it into the Honor Band was Octavio Padron, a 10th grader on tuba. Jamila Tibayan (clarinet), Loven Omar (alto saxophone), Hector Reyes (baritone saxophone), Michael Hernandez (tuba) and Jose Armendariz (percussion). They’re all sophomores except for Armendariz, who is a junior.
Then, there was the Middle School/Junior High All-Region Band Festival, held in Crane over January 24 and 25. Seventeen band members from Lucy Rede Franco Middle School performed in a grand concert on Saturday, band director Ferguson said, playing everything from French horn to percussion.
In the Honor Band were Abdiel Bustamante (7th), Anton Morales (8th) and Gabriel Montemayor (8th) on clarinet; Natalia Sanchez (8th) on bass clarinet; Domingo Rios (8th), Veronica Estrada (8th) and Hannah Escontrias (7th) on trumpet; Yaritzel Serrano (7th) and Josselyn Melchor (7th) on trombone and Maya Fausett on tuba.
Making the Symphonic Band were: on flute-America Padron(7th), on clarinet- Valerie Armendariz(8th), on Alto Saxophone- Herman Reyes(8th) and Aylani Galindo(8th), on trumpet- Sebastian Franco(7th), on French Horn- Carmela Tapac(7th), and on percussion- Eduardo Flores(8th) & Jaeli Nunez(7th).
