CMEA Adjudication Festival

My daughter (8th Grader) is in the school symphonic band for one of her elective courses. The band is primarily for enjoyment, instead of striving for professional competition, which may be the impression given after watching the Sound! Euphonium anime. However, there is one time of year when I feel a slight competitive edge: CMEA Adjudication Festival. Several schools in Palo Alto and Los Altos areas participate in it, and adjudicators give verdicts from S (Superior) to F (Fair). My daughter couldn't get satisfactory verdicts last year. So, she (and probably the whole band) wanted to make this year, which may be her final year in the band, a redemption season.

And I can tell the performance was truly impressive. It's hard to believe how much the school band has improved in just one year. The Infiniti commercial creator should be ashamed and apologize to all school bands if they see this performance. An adjudicator gave a whistle as a compliment (I believe so) at the end of their performance. The verdicts told it. Usually, I'm reluctant to use the term 'proud of' because I believe the pride should be solely on whom achieved it. But that night, I was so proud of my daughter.