<p>Hi firefly! Another fellow flute player, I see 
My band is extremely competitive, and very well known throughout NJ. We often win competitions and are always invited to band festivalsā¦ not to brag 
But weāre playing Music for Prague - a hardcore piece and Commando March. We just started on Pacem (A hymn for peace) too and also Childrenās March.</p>
<p>NeethuāMusic for Prague? Yeah, one of the bands we were competing against this year played thatāyour percussion section must be awesome . Weāre playing Away Day, The Pride of the Wolverines (ā¦blame our band director for that particular lapse in judgementā¦), and Suite of Old American Dances. Last year we played Blue Shades, which was the best thing ever, hands down.</p>
<p>I paint/draw, journal, volunteer a lot (through key club, nhs, etc), and procrastinate/stress over stupid IB stuff. haha, right there with you squaregirl! I spend a lot of time listening to music and going to concerts, if I have the time. </p>
<p>redflowers - predicted grades dont count for much at all from what Iāve heard. unless youāre applying to an international school, then it would make a difference.</p>
<p>Iām from Austin (Live Music Capital of the World), so concerts used to be my life 24/7 before school got a hold of me. 
Iāve got Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen and Tv On The Radio all lined up for the next two months, though, so Iām making a comeback, slowly but surely!</p>
<p>Firefly - which state was the competition in?! That mightāve been our band! Rutgers Honors Festival? Actually our percussion section is pretty awesome (we have the number 1 all state mallets player), but our brass section is AMAZING.</p>
<p>I actually donāt know any of those songs Iāll look them up though! The best song that weāve ever played (and we do it so well - our bandās sound is gorgeous) was Lux Aurumque. Last year we did Symphonic Metamorphosis too, which was incredible. We performed at the BOA Indianapolis festival (top 16 bands in the country!).</p>
<p>Sorry if Iām not modest sounding at all, lol - I am leaving the band once I go to college after all, so itās the last time to brag :P</p>
<p>brandnewstate: i am an international applicant. colleges use my predicted grades as a basis for judgment. any idea on the expected level of grades?</p>
<p>Haha, no, sorryāweāre in Alabama (we actually do have some pretty good schools down here, though, I swear). Most of our band is excellent, but our baritones/clarinets/bassoonā¦not so much. And we only have three tubas who are all very good, but the result is that our low brass section kinda lame. Other than that, the only thing judges usually mark us for is dynamicsā¦our range is something like mf-ffffffff. Lux Aurumqueā¦never heard of that oneā¦<em>scurries off to YouTube</em></p>
<p>I know right? Iām going to miss it so much. Iām such a band geek.</p>
<p>Aw, shucks. Most of our sections are kickbutt, which is good We get marked for dynamics a lot too because our band is so huge that itās just so hard to get down to ppp. We usually have to do 1 to a stand (since here, 2 people share a stand) if itās that quiet of a song.</p>
<p>Lux Aurumque = most gorgeous song ever! Ever heard of Eric Whitacre?</p>
<p>Yeah, we do two to a stand too, and we do very similar cutsāweāre pretty massive too.</p>
<p>I YouTubed Lux Aurumque (yes, YouTube is a verb.) The version I listened to was a choirāitās beautiful . Have you ever heard of La Mezquita de Cordoba or Urban Dances? We played those back in Symphonic, but MAN they were pretty, especially the flute solos .</p>
<p>Noo, but Iām totally looking those up when I get a chance!</p>
<p>Look up other Whitacre pieces. They are all gorgeous - we also played October.</p>
<p>ok um what is your favorite food? (Iām random) I love everything EXCEPT for most fruits and especially bananas because theyāre icky and mushy and smells funny. (ok I hate bananas, donāt judge!!!) >;( lol :D</p>
<p>Hmmā¦thatās hard to decide. I love food so much that Iām almost positive Iāll gain the freshman 15 :[ But Iād have to say pizza; I have pizza or pizza-related products (like pizza bagels) at least five times a week normally. I donāt know what it is about pizza ā I can never get sick of it!</p>
<p>Heh, Iām not much of a food person. I am partial to iced mochas, though. ;)</p>
<p>Iced drinks!</p>
<p>Yum, Starbucks. Or even better, little tiny coffee shops Tiny non-franchised stores make the best food!</p>
<p>I agree neethus, one of my favorite things to do is walking in cities and stopping in small independent shops.</p>
<p>Aw man, no mail on Sundays! </p>
<p>I do a LOT of theatre. I used to play soccer, fence, row and pole vault but theatre got in the way. Iām an editor for my schools literary magazine and Iām part of a small mother daughter book club. </p>
<p>I love almost anything with tomatoes!ā¦or chocolate.</p>
<p>agracof - yes! That is so much funā¦ small shops have such a great, unique style to them. Part of the city feel is that thereās a cozy feel within each store too, if that makes any sense at all :P</p>
<p>Thai food - FTW :)</p>
<p>I absolutely love love love Asian Food (Iām Asian, go figure :p)</p>
<p>ZOMG THAI FOOD!</p>
<p>yummyā¦</p>
<p>You know, Iāve never had real Chinese food. Iāve only had take-out Iāve been lied to my whole life about what real Chinese food is!</p>
<p>Support your local businesses! Iāve made buying everything local a big thing since the recession hit; no chains for moi. And local coffee houses are SO GOOD, too. Slurrrrrrppp.</p>