luv4corps Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 I was a member of Sunset's band 89-92. Our band director Greg Hall was the reason our program was such as success those years. He went to California my senior year and came back in 1993 and continued the success for a while. Bands like Westview, Beaverton, Aloha, Centennial, Columbia River and Grants Pass were all strong. What's their status today? I saw Greg at the theater show and he looks good. I know he was a DCW judge at the local shows in some years. Go Apollos! I taught at Cedar Mill for 10 years :) Greg Hall is still at Sunset but I doubt he is full time. Not sure about that. He is one of the best. The amount of Beaverton kids in OC is quite telling... that's why to see music suffer in Beaverton is so painful. I'd also like to give a shout out to Tigard and Sherwood (like Beaverton, they are Portland suburbs) who both have strong marching programs. But it is the surrounding school districts, not Portland itself, that primarily feed OC. Think of all the talent Portland Public has that is not being tapped! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavie95 Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 The Portland school district is too busy overpaying it's administration and paying for internet/cell phone perks to worry about having $ for music education... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsubone Posted August 13, 2013 Share Posted August 13, 2013 I thought Westview had a pretty decent band program the last few years? I'm just glad that so many people can get exposed to the drum corps activity through OC, Thunder, Columbians, and Cascades. Would be cool for a Northwest corps to keep building, and get back to Finals. Get a corps from every region of the country into Finals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbbandman Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 I was a member of Sunset's band 89-92. Our band director Greg Hall was the reason our program was such as success those years. He went to California my senior year and came back in 1993 and continued the success for a while. Bands like Westview, Beaverton, Aloha, Centennial, Columbia River and Grants Pass were all strong. What's their status today? I saw Greg at the theater show and he looks good. I know he was a DCW judge at the local shows in some years. BTW, I was in the Royal Lancers/Third Regiment (Fall '74-Summer '77) with Greg Hall, and I agree with what you say about him and Sunset HS Bands! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luv4corps Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 The Portland school district is too busy overpaying it's administration and paying for internet/cell phone perks to worry about having $ for music education... Don't even get me started on the MESS that Portland Public Schools have been in for years. It was once a flagship district... for music too. I grew up in that district. It has gone to the dawgs... especially when it comes to music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luv4corps Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 I thought Westview had a pretty decent band program the last few years? I'm just glad that so many people can get exposed to the drum corps activity through OC, Thunder, Columbians, and Cascades. Would be cool for a Northwest corps to keep building, and get back to Finals. Get a corps from every region of the country into Finals. Westview is another Beaverton school and like all Beaverton schools, marching programs have been strong but last year huge cuts were made and it is showing and we limped along last year. I know this because I work in the district. This is not hearsay. 30% of band fte - wiped out. Huge programs like Southridge HS have gone to half time. I teach elementary music and half our teachers were cut. A few are coming back for next year but our fte is way down in the district. A new music advocacy task force is forming this year to get music back on track in Beaverton. This is VERY GOOD news for OC and other area corps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavie95 Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 BTW, I was in the Royal Lancers/Third Regiment (Fall '74-Summer '77) with Greg Hall, and I agree with what you say about him and Sunset HS Bands! To my knowledge, Greg has had students from his Sunset band march with: Blue Devils Blue Knights Cadets Cavaliers Crossmen Marauders There might be more before or after my time that I'm not aware of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PurpleKnights Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 To my knowledge, Greg has had students from his Sunset band march with: Blue Devils Blue Knights Cadets Cavaliers Crossmen Marauders There might be more before or after my time that I'm not aware of. The list is a lot longer than that. Sunset is one of the schools that reliably churns out drum corps members. Oregon Crusaders' vocalist and a few others in the corps are from there. I'm pretty sure one of Crown's hornline section leaders this year is an alum. That program is still going strong but with budget issues over the last year there were questions about whether it would continue to exist. Greg still judges drum corps shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
contraBand Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 There are a number of east-side schools that have a fair number of corps members as well- Central Valley, Mt Spokane, and Mead (Spokane) and Hanford, Chiawana, and Kamiakin (Tri-Cities) all had decent representation at various corps this year as far as I know. Also, while there are comparatively few "very strong" marching programs on the east side of the state, CV and Mead both have had exceptional success in the region, and schools such as Mt Spokane, Hanford, and Chiawana have all shown marked improvement in the last few years- at least, from my perspective. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavie95 Posted August 14, 2013 Share Posted August 14, 2013 The list is a lot longer than that. Sunset is one of the schools that reliably churns out drum corps members. Oregon Crusaders' vocalist and a few others in the corps are from there. I'm pretty sure one of Crown's hornline section leaders this year is an alum. That program is still going strong but with budget issues over the last year there were questions about whether it would continue to exist. Greg still judges drum corps shows. Doh! I should have added Oregon just as a default to the list. Had no idea about Crown members. I didn't see Greg at the Tualatin show on the field, maybe he was in the press box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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