All-District Band

  • Region’s top band students coming to Gaston County for all-district clinic

    Again this year, Gaston County Schools is hosting the South Central All-District Band Clinic at Stuart W. Cramer High School on January 26-27.  

    The top band students from across the Charlotte region will spend time on Friday and Saturday morning preparing music for the concert, which will be held on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. as the culminating activity of the two-day clinic.  The concert is open to the public.

    Gaston County Schools has 21 students among the outstanding musicians who are participating in the all-district band program.  The students will be led by nationally-recognized clinicians, who are considered among the best in the field of music education. 

    The following middle school and high school students from Gaston County Schools were selected for the 2024 all-district band clinic:

    • Tytianna Lipscomb, bass clarinet - York Chester Middle School
    • Abram Comer, trombone - Cramerton Middle School
    • Cyrus Baltimore, tuba - Stanley Middle School
    • Dennis Lopez, tuba - Bessemer City Middle School
    • Ada Hartge, clarinet - Belmont Middle School
    • Sofia Parra, bass clarinet - W. C. Friday Middle School
    • Erick Rodriguez-Hernandez, contrabass clarinet - W. C. Friday Middle School
    • Kate McDaniel, trumpet - Belmont Middle School
    • Catherine Putnam, horn - W. C. Friday Middle School
    • Ayden Kisby-Jones, clarinet - Highland School of Technology
    • Ashleigh Fox, bass clarinet - East Gaston High School
    • Caiden McDaniel, horn - Forestview High School
    • Akela Taylor, percussion - Highland School of Technology
    • Matthew Loudon, percussion - Highland School of Technology
    • Annabelle Radford, bassoon - Cramerton Middle School 
    • James Vielkanowitz, bassoon - Forestview High School
    • Haley Hazen, clarinet - Forestview High School
    • Ryan Hoellein, clarinet - East Gaston High School
    • Ethan Snell, trumpet - Forestview High School
    • Christopher Funderburk, horn - Ashbrook High School
    • Mattie Grace Branham, tuba - East Gaston High School

    Darcy Williams from Stiles Middle School in Leander, Texas will conduct the middle school concert band, and Windy Baird from Down East Middle School in Smyrna, North Carolina will conduct the middle school symphonic band.  Tim Hamilton from South Point High School in Belmont will conduct the high school band for grades 9-10, and Alex Kaminsky, director of bands and associate professor of music at VanderCook College of Music in Chicago, Illinois, will conduct the high school band for grades 11-12.