Bowen Boyack: Tell me about yourself and what inspired you to get this job as a Band Director at Baxter Springs.
Louis Morgan: Music has always come easily to me and I have always enjoyed it. My middle and high school band directors were two of the greatest men I’ve ever known and I decided in high school that I would pursue a career in teaching music, and inspire students the way they inspired me.
BB: Tell me a little bit about the Band Program here at BSHS.
LM: The Baxter High School Band program consists of about 30 wind players and 12 percussionists. We play one matching halftime show during football season for our home games (we do not compete) and we play as a pep band during our basketball season. We perform concerts throughout the year and participate in our region’s solo and ensemble and large group festivals. Last year our band earned a one rating at State Large Group for the first time. We also have a Jazz Band program that consists of 15 students.
BB: What inspired your musical selections this year for marching band?
LM: Every year our marching show is decided by our students or is inspired by what is popular. This year our show was classic rock (Ozzy Osborne, KISS) and we played a show that we hoped would appeal to our parents.
BB: What competitions did you go to this marching season and what ratings/scores did you get?
LM: We did not attend any competitions this marching season.
BB: Tell me about the upcoming trips you will be taking within the next 3-4 years.
LM: Currently we are traveling with our basketball team as they play in our sub-State tournament and we plan on traveling with them if they continue on to play at state. Nine of our students are traveling to Chicago during spring break with the Mid America All Star Marching Band. They will join several other students from area schools and participate in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Every year our students participate in what we call the Culture and Cuisine trip. We take our students to a nearby city to enjoy a touring musical. We are not sure what we will see next year but this past year we saw Wicked in Tulsa.
BB: What concert band repertoire are your bands playing this year? When are your upcoming performances?
LM: This year for contest our concert band is playing a Karl King March, United Nations, and On a Hymnsong of Phillip Bliss. We will perform those for our State Large Group festival, April 11.
BB: Looking forward to 2019, any plans you would be willing to share?
LM: We do not exactly have any big plans for 2019 but we hope to keep improving as a band and growing in numbers to possibly branch out and grow as a program.
Thank you, Louis. Best of luck to you and the BHS Bands in the Future.
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