Middle school symphonic band performs 'Oconee Suite'

WATKINSVILLE - A few years ago, many of the 52 kids in the Oconee Middle School symphonic band picked up their instruments for the first time.

Now, they are playing original pieces tailored to them - not just trying to get the notes right, but to convey momentum and emotion.

"The kids are playing the music like they like it," said band director Bryan Agan. "They're playing it with expression."

The band of seventh- and eighth-graders commissioned "Oconee Suite," a composition by University of Georgia composer Ashley Ford for the band. Two months of work later, the band was ready to perform four pieces - including the original piece - at the band's fall concert Tuesday evening.

Commissioning an original piece is the type of ambitious goal the middle school group has grown accustomed to tackling. The symphonic band - the most advanced of the three bands at the school - has performed at national contests and UGA music festivals, and annually places students in the all-state and all-district bands.

To bring out the best in his students, Agan selects material that most middle school ensembles wouldn't attempt. Tuesday evening, the group played pieces from four different centuries.

"This is not normal middle school band music," he said. "But it can be. It does take a lot of hard work."

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