Robinson Middle School Band Concerts

Robinson Secondary School has outstanding band, orchestral, and choral programs. Continuing this tradition of excellence, the Middle School Bands presented a dynamic Pre-Assessment Concert on Tuesday evening in the Russell Theater.  They were masterfully conducted by teachers Judy Einuis and Tiffany Hitz.

Are you wondering, at this point, what a pre-assessment concert might be?  On Saturday, March 5, students in three of Robinson’s six middle school bands will report to Lake Braddock for the District XI Virginia State Band Festival. Intermediate students from many other schools in Northern Virginia will attend as well, all competing to see which band is best.

When the audience tiptoed into the auditorium, Concert Band 5 was already seated, warming up with their instruments.  Ms. Hitz continued rehearing her students while the other musicians quietly filled into the theater. The more than 250 instrumentalists filled almost one-third of the seats.

Ms. Hitz and Ms. Einuis welcomed the audience graciously and enthusiastically. In the upcoming festival, the teachers explained, each band will play three short pieces before a group of judges. Afterwards, each group returns to its own practice room. 

Participants are given music they haven’t seen before. They have seven minutes to study the music in any way they can -- but  without playing it. When they perform this piece, a separate judge evaluates them on their sight-reading skills.  Ms. Einuis concluded with a radiant smile on her face that the sight-reading part of the evaluation was “exciting, tough, and fun.”

At a festival, each ensemble plays three brief pieces, beginning with a march.  The next two pieces are played with almost no pause.  During the performance, Ms. Einuis warned, judges will be talking into tape recorders. Later, the young musicians will listen to their comments and hopefully improve their techniques. This is “standard festival procedure.”

After Concert Band 5 finished, Concert Band 4 took their place on the stage. Their warm-up march was “On Navy Pier” by John Moss. It was followed by “Mysterium” and a stirring rendition of “Fort Smith Celebration.” Geoff Warmuth, whose son Nick is a trombone player in the Symphonic Band, observed that the piece “had the feeling of one of those old Westerns.”  Bingo!

The Symphonic Band was the last group to perform. Seven percussionists and many more brass and wind players intensified the stirring tone of this band. Scott Martin, a Fairfax Station resident and an administrator at George Mason University, has an 8th grade son, Prescott, who is a trumpet player. A musician himself, Dr. Martin remarked that the students had a “very mature sound.”  Closing your eyes and forgetting the high school setting, you could imagine yourself across Braddock Road, listening to George Mason’s symphonic band.

At the end of the program, Director Einuis invited the families to attend the Festival Assessment Concert. She thanked Sharon Newcome, the principal of Sub School 8, for joining the audience. Several colleagues at Robinson, she also noted, had come that evening to help the students warm up and to give pointers on getting ready for the event on Saturday.

“We’re terribly proud” of the band members, Ms. Einuis concluded.  “We’re having a blast.”  And so was the audience!