Lynden High Band Earns Remarkable 30th Straight ‘Superior’ Rating
For the 30th straight year, the Lynden High School Wind Ensemble band earned a Superior rating at annual the San Juan Music Educators Association Large Group Festival.
“With the struggles that music programs have had over the past few years, maintaining the standard of Superior level playing has been highly challenging,” says Trevor Galligan, Lynden teacher and band director. “I think this says a lot about the student’s determination. These kids not only work hard and have an excellent pep band presence, but they have the musical maturity to play classical music at the highest level.”
The festival, held at Western Washington University, is the largest regional event in the state with 21 schools participating from Blaine to Mount Vernon and beyond. The 53-member Lynden band played three pieces for the judges, all picked by the director to ensure a combination of lyrical and technical components.
Galligan says a Superior rating—the top rating achievable—is awarded when the band accomplishes superb clarity of pitch, proper blend and balance at all times, flawless rhythmic accuracy, a portrayal of the composer’s intent of the piece through the performance, as well as expressive shaping and phrasing of the music.
“I was told afterward by one of the judges,” Galligan says, “that after our performance was over, the judge sitting next to him simply turned his adjudicating form over and said, ‘Now, that’s a good band.’”
