For the second year, Jarrod O’Donnell, the Atlantic concert band director, will be sending in a recording of three songs played by the band to the Iowa Band Association. The Iowa Band Association is a organization for the Iowa of band directors of elementary schools, middle schools, high schools and colleges. They provide our guidelines of concerts and if there is a need to change some rules, it comes up at conferences. Their main function is for our conferences and go over what is needed for band directors.

Every year a band is selected from each class and then asked to go to west Des Moines and perform in front of almost every band director from Iowa. The band director will send an application that will be considered and a recording that will be listened to. Then, a committee sits down in January and listen to the recording. If the committee likes it, the band will be chosen. If the AHS concert band is chosen, they will have to prepare and almost perfect a 45 to 50 minute long performance.

The songs O’Donnell will be sending in are two pieces that were performed at the holiday concert, “Zing” and “Lux Aurumque. The other piece is not quite chosen yet, but it is between two marches that was performed last year, “Flag of Victory,” or “Aces of the Air.”

“I’m not nervous about sending the recording because I think we have a great group, but I’m more nervous about being selected. When you put on a concert, you have parents and young kids, but when you go to IBA concert you’re in a room not only with parents and community members, but also with band directors. So if you make a mistake they will think “oh I can do that better.” It takes that leap of faith that I’m putting my group out there so I’m not only confident of my group, but also in myself and how well I can teach them.” – O’Donnell