This past month band students all around Fort Worth were provided the opportunity to earn a scholarship to attend the TCU Band camp this summer, with all expenses paid - including registration, food, and housing. This application process included a brief short-answer application and a recorded performance of a solo of the students' choice. From all schools around the district, only one student was chosen for band, and I am proud to announce that it was our very own Ja'Kedrick Jackson! 

On April 16th at 3:30 am,  the Cougar Band returned to school after their 2019 Spring Trip to Memphis, TN! Though we might all be tired, we had a great trip filled with so much music history, Ameican History, the world-class Memphis Zoo, a beautiful college campus experience, and more. You can see some of our pictures in the Photo Gallery.

Please check out our Instagram (@whhs_cougarband) for more pictures throughout the trip!

Special video announcement highlighting the trip.

Tuesday and Wednesday of this week your Western Hills Cougar Band members competed at UIL Concert and Sightreading Contest at the Mansfield Center for the Performing Arts. The Symphonic Band competed on Tuesday and came away with Excellent Ratings both on stage and in the sightreading room! This is the highest rating for the non-varsity group that we have had in 7 years; congratulations to Mrs. Hille and the Symphonic Band! On Wednesday the Wind Ensemble competed in the contest, and earned Superior Ratings on stage and in the sightreading room! For the second year in a row this completes the year-long sweepstakes, meaning they earned a superior rating in the fall for marching season as well as earning a superior rating with the varsity group during concert band. The Cougar Band was the only 4A high school to do this in all of Region 5!

This past Saturday, March 23rd, the Western Hills Cougar Winterguard competed at the Regional AA Championships at The Colony High School and came away with 1st Place, and the highest marked score of the entire day!! We are so proud of these students and their amazing commitment to their show this year. Most of the other groups that we compete against have more rehearsals and staff than we do, but our students definitely had more heart. You could immediately tell in their warm-up that this was going to be a special performance!!

If you have never seen our Winterguard perform before, here is a link to be able to watch the show. 

Video

Andrea Botello (Captain)
Anjelica Gonzales (Captain)
A'Lexis Brooks
Josh Chuca 
Kaylee Hayes
Ja'Kedrick Jackson
Tay Johnson
Bird Luker
Yasmin Maldenado
Jennifer Martinez
Brenice Mattes
Jasmin Mejia
Sage Milhouse
Brisa Nava
Edgar Rios
Danielle Savage
Leondra Smith
Blaine Williams

Winterguard Spring Break Success
Over the break, the Western Hills Winterguard competed at a contest at South Grand Prairie High School and came away with a 3rd place trophy! They are currently ranked 7th overall in the Regional 2-A Division out of 70 total groups and have their championships at Colony High School on Saturday, March 23rd! Please congratulate the students below when you see them this week and encourage them to keep pushing towards Saturday! Also, if anyone is interested in joining us on Saturday the information for that is below.

Andrea Botello (Captain)
Anjelica Gonzales (Captain)
A'Lexis Brooks
Josh Chuca 
Kaylee Hayes
Ja'Kedrick Jackson
Tay Johnson
Bird Luker
Yasmin Maldenado
Jennifer Martinez
Brenice Mattes
Jasmin Mejia
Sage Milhouse
Brisa Nava
Edgar Rios
Danielle Savage
Leondra Smith
Blaine Williams

Championship Contest
The Colony High School
Saturday 3/23/19
Performance time: 5:45 pm

On Saturday, February 23rd, many members of the Cougar Band competed at the FWISD Solo Contest held at Rosemont Middle School. This contest involves students learning a piece of music on their own to perform with piano accompaniment for a judge (shoutout to Mrs. Maas for being an awesome accompanist!). I'm proud to announce that we had some of the best results in my four years of being at Western Hills! Overall we had 17 Gold medalists, 6 Silver medalists, and 3 Bronze medalists, with 7 of our students chosen as Best in Class! Best in Class is an honor chosen by the judge to designate students who perform above and beyond what was expected.

Gold Medalists
Adrienne Williams - Best in Class!
Andi Klundt - Best in Class!
Jasmin Mejia - Best in Class!
Oscar Animas - Best in Class!
Blaine Williams - Best in Class!
Ja'Kedrick Jackson - Best in Class!
Sebastian Enriquez - Best in Class!
Aaron Haney
Justin Grammer
Samantha Williams
Neida Prado
Jonathan Wandersee
Brisa Nava
Esmeralda Garcia
Alejandra Velazquez
Emma Bowes
David Haney

Silver Medalists
A'Lexis Brooks
Yimi Bravo
Hudson Cole
Jacqueline Meza
Sarai Franklin
Anjelica Gonzales 

Bronze Medalists
Caleb Carranza
Spencer Island
Kelly Sanchez

Over the course of last week, 14 of our band students participated in Region Band Auditions.

On Monday and Thursday, students participated in the first round of auditions, aiming to qualify for the final auditions on Saturday. Only 45 total students from Fort Worth ISD passed on to the Saturday auditions, and only 17 students made the band.

I am pleased to announce that Oscar Animas and Blaine Williams not only made the top Region Band, but they qualified for the next round of auditions! At the next round, both have the opportunity to make the All-State Band! 

Oscar Animas
4th Chair Orchestra
Area Qualifier 

Blaine Williams
8th Chair Orchestra
Area Qualifier

The Cougar Band hosted the FWISD District Band Contest on Tuesday, November 27th. This is a band event where 450 students from high schools around the district come together to perform an audition to compete for a spot in an elite ensemble. They are given 3 college level pieces to prepare over the course of several months and compete against students on their same instrument to make the All-District Band. I am pleased to announce that the Cougar Band had 8 students make the All-District Band last night!!

Adrienne William
2nd Chair Flute

Andi Klundt
4th Chair Flute

Jasmin Mejia
9th Chair Flute 

Ja'Kedrick Jackson
8th Chair Clarinet 

Aaron Haney
1st Chair Bari Saxophone 

Oscar Animas
2nd Chair Horn 

Blaine Williams
3rd Chair Horn 

Justin Grammer
Alternate Horn

After a busy Saturday the Cougar Band came away with 3rd place in Class A at the Mansfield Preview of Champions Contest!