I have officially been in South Africa for a year now. It’s hard to believe, but my work with the Field Band Foundation has come to an end and my Fulbright is officially over. I will be writing a concluding post in the next few days, but first I’d like to write a bit about the 2008 Field Band Championships.
As you may recall from last year, the National Championships is the culminating event held each year for the many bands that comprise the Field Band Foundation. The groups come to Johannesburg from all over the country to compete for top honors in several different categories. Each band has to put a twelve-minute show together and compete in one of two divisions: the First Division or the Premiere Division. The First Division is for younger bands and low-scoring groups from the previous year’s Premiere Division competition. The Premiere Division is for the top bands. Also, as part of the two-day event, there is a solo and ensemble competition and a “prescribed piece” competition in which the bands perform a set piece composed for the event.
I attended last year’s championships just four days after I arrived in South Africa. I was feeling quite nervous about the fact that I had just moved to a country with one of the highest crime rates in there world, where I knew no one and had no idea of how to get around. But, as soon as the first band marched onto the field and began to play, my fears melted. I remember looking out at the excitement in front of me and thinking that this was going to be good after all.
A year later, I found myself in the same stadium watching the same bands perform similar music. Yet, this time around, it was a completely different experience. Instead of watching a sea of foreign faces, I was looking at friends and people who I had come to know and love. I felt a strong connection to each band since I had visited them all at least once during the course of the year. I knew where they came from, I could remember the school where they rehearsed, and I knew many of the personalities in each group. As I walked around and stadium, I found myself shaking hands and greeting people all over. It was like all the experiences I had had over the course of the year had suddenly come together in one massive celebration of music and dance.
As you may know, I focused most of my teaching efforts on the Cullinan Field Band. Even though they had come in last place at last year’s Championships, I was feeling a lot of hope for them and knew that they could win something at this year’s competition. I had spend many months working with the drummers, and the foundation had also put a lot of resources into the band this year. They sent the foundation’s top dancer to lead the group for several months, then they sent two Norwegian music teachers to work with the band, and finally posted two South Africans who had just returned from a year of study in Norway as the new band directors.
I watched the band grow over the course of the year and it was amazing to see the changes that hard work and competent leadership can create. Though the road to the championships wasn’t always smooth, the band had developed a core of dedicated plays who I knew could carry them through.
As you can imagine, my heart was pumping when Cullinan stepped onto the field at the Championships. Earlier in the year, they were devastated to hear that they would have to perform in the First Division because of their poor performance in the 2007 Championships. But, as I watched their faces on the field, I saw pride and confidence, not shame. They played their program far better than ever before. I found myself crying as I tried to rush around with my camera to film every bit of it
Later, I watched my drum students perform in the percussion ensemble competition while I floated around filming the many events in the Solo and Ensemble competition. I also watched Sello (the boy from several of my videos in earlier posts) compete in the percussion solo competition, and one of my students competed in the solo dance competition as well. It was a thrill to see so much creativity and individual talent as I walked around the various sections.
When the announcer came to the microphone at the end of the day to announce the winners, there were butterflies in my stomach. Though perhaps I shouldn’t really have cared about the prizes (the FBF is about improving lives, not winning competitions), I was rooting for Cullinan all the way. In the end, they did better than I could have imagined. They won for the best percussion and best brass sections in their division. They also won the percussion ensemble competition, and scored second for the prescribed piece. Even Sello and my student who entered the dance competition won in their respective solo divisions. Those last four were all out of the entire foundation, not just the First Division, so they really proved themselves. It was thrilling to see these kids who had worked so hard and who I had come to know so well get validated for everything they had done. And then to top it off, the band won the First Division championship! All in all, they collected seven prizes, far more than any other band.
The Premiere Division the next day had it’s own highlights though nothing for me could beat the previous day’s excitement with Cullinan winning. Many of the bands in the Premiere Division reached a level of performance that wouldn’t have been thought possible in the Field Band Foundation several years ago. Often, when people watch the field bands perform, they say how great they are considering the tough backgrounds they come from and the relatively few resources they have. But, the top bands have reached a level that is just simply good, no qualifications necessary. That is a big step for the foundation and it shows an enormous amount of progress.
It was a bit sad at the end of the day to realize that my year with the Field Band Foundation was over. For so long, it had seemed like the FBF was just another part of my life. As I walked back to my car I had the strange feeling that I had been just a small and transient part of a much bigger entity. One year is really not much time in the scheme of things, but I am still so proud of everything that I did. I was also really touched by the many thanks-yous and compliments I got from my students. One guy even gave me a trophy, which was probably the sweetest gift I’ve ever received. I will surely continue to help the foundation going forward, but I have the deepest respect for those who will continue to devote their lives to bettering lives through music and dance in the Field Band Foundation.
I’m including some photos below and also a few roughly edited video clips from the Championships, featuring the Cullinan band and the percussion ensemble (drum line). If I had more time, I would make a full video, but I leave South Africa very soon and there are miles to go before I sleep. I think you’ll get the picture anyway. Also, I will also be producing a DVD in December featuring all the videos I made this year. Feel free to email me (jimcol@gmail.com) if you’d like to get a copy when it’s finished.
