My band's performance: please comment

[Bonehelm]

Hey GMGers, this is a performance by my high school wind ensemble, many players in it are basically only 1st year or 2nd year students of their instruments (all 3 hornists are starters!). Aside from a 2nd trombone cup mute drop in the middle of the performance, this piece is the best recorded/played in the concert in my opinion. Please comment! But don't compare it too much with the professional recordings you are used to hearing, because our players, our recording equipment and engineering are all very, very amateur! 

Wizard of Oz wind band arrangement, played by Magee Wind Ensemble: http://www.mediafire.com/?pk9tjdgcs1x

P.S. We are a bunch of 15-18 year old high schoolers, of the Magee Secondary School, Vancouver, BC. Thanks for listening  .

[jochanaan]

Not bad.  It sounds as if you have some fine individual players, including most of the first-chair people; the intonation and tonal blend were pretty good for a high-school group, and they seemed up to the technical demands of the music.

If I were directing the band (I've directed a few bands in my time), I'd work a little more on getting them to play as a unit, and on phrase-shaping.  There were a few places where they weren't quite together, notably around tempo changes, and I felt the overall performance could use some more direction.  I'd like to hear them play every phrase as if it contained a truth they just had to tell.

Keyword: Flexibility.  As a young player, I never understood why so many directors insisted on changing the tempo once we got started.  Why couldn't they just give us the tempo and let us play it straight? But over the years I've come to understand exactly WHY those directors insisted on such flexibility; it's for the same reason your English teachers told you to read "with feeling!"

[mahler10th]

I downloaded and listened.  There is crazyness and enjoyment in this!  Bonkers and fun, (not like you say in any way like a professional recording, and Jochanaan's guidance below is accurate,) but still I would play this on my i-pod before going in for a serious interview to loosen me up!!  Or just before attempting ANYTHING serious in life, listening to this would be a great reminder for all of us not to take the big stuff so seriously!  Loved it.
Keep going Magee Wind Ensemble over there in Vancouver, you have a fan in Scotland.

[Bonehelm]

Wow thanks for the warm reviews jochanaan and mahler10th! I'll forward your comments to my band teacher. Next year we're touring 4 cities in Japan, playing with some of the best wind orchestras on the planet (eg. Tokyo Kosei, Toho Gauken etc)  .

Thanks again for listening, much appreciated!