The Stewarts Creek Middle School Band has again been recognized by the Tennessee Music Education Association as one of the state’s top school band programs, and as such, has been invited to perform at state music conference in April.
The band has been selected to perform for the TMEA State Professional Development Conference on April 6. The performance will take place at 1:00 in the Presidential Ballroom at the Opryland Gaylord Hotel and Convention Center.
“The band students at Stewarts Creek Middle School are great examples of what can be achieved with hard work and love of learning,” Rutherford County Director of Schools Don Odom stated in a congratulatory letter.
The convention concerts showcase the state’s best middle school, high school, and college music programs and are meant to inspire music teachers throughout Tennessee, Stewarts Creek Middle Band Director Andrew Lynn said. The SCMS Band is the only middle school band in Tennessee selected — by audition — to perform this year. The band also joins an elite group of school ensembles to perform at the convention for a second time. The Stewarts Creek group also played at the 2013 convention in Chattanooga.
“(The student’s) dedication is a credit to their school and community, and a reflection of Rutherford County School’s commitment to the arts,” School Board member Wayne Blair said in a letter.
Last spring, the School Board approved the creation of a Coordinator of Fine Arts position. Lindsay Halford has been serving in that position this year and will be featured as a guest conductor during the SCMS Band’s convention concert.
This notable performance will add to a long list of achievements earned by the band program during its eleven-year history, Lynn said. The band has been recognized with multiple Sweepstakes Awards from the Tennessee Bandmasters Association and Awards of Distinction from the American School Band Director’s Association. Many SCMS Band members have earned positions in the All-Midstate and All-County Bands.
“We are blessed with the hardest working students around and we are fortunate to have incredible support from our band parents, faculty, and administrators,” Lynn said.
Lynn has been the director since the school opened in 2006. For the past three years, Jazmin Jordan has also served as one of the school’s band directors. The Stewarts Creek High School Band and its directors, Debbie Burton and Michael Chester, also actively participate in the development of the SCMS program, Lynn added.
The Stewarts Creek band is comprised of 230 students. The 120-member Advanced Band will perform the concert at Opryland.
SCMS Principal Letoni Murry said he is proud of the students in the band.
“This prestigious group of students lead in the classroom and in the community,” Murry said. “It has been a privilege to watch them grow and mature, and our school reaps the benefits of their work ethic, character, and determination.”
In addition to daily class rehearsals, the band is participating in after-school and weekend rehearsals to represent Rutherford County Schools and the Town of Smyrna at April’s concert.
The public is invited to a preview concert on April 4 at 6:30 pm at Stewarts Creek High School.
