Photo courtesy of Union City Schools
By: Mike Hutchens, Union City Schools Communications Director
Union City’s tradition-rich band programs continue to rack up group and individual accolades.
Both the UC High School and Middle School bands were recently lauded at the West Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Festival, with the high school group securing second-leg requirements for the prestigious Tennessee Bandmasters Association Sweepstakes Awards.
It will mark the fifth consecutive year the Union City High School band has received the esteemed honor.
Veteran band director Jason Deem and assistant/middle school director Joe Davis will represent the Purple People at the TMEA (Tennessee Music Education Association) ceremony at the Gaylord Entertainment Central in Nashville, Apr. 19-21.
“It’s a testament and the culmination of so much hard work and dedication to their craft by our kids,” Deem said. “For us to continue to maintain this type of success in extracurricular activities with the academic requirements we put on our students, it speaks volumes about their character, their commitment, and their love for what they do.”
There are 96 members of the high school band and another 70 in the middle school version.
The UCHS band is also celebrating the selection of Amir Peat after he was chosen for the All-West Band last month.
A sophomore tuba player, Peat auditioned for the honor and was selected to play with other standout musicians in Memphis at the Cannon Center later this spring.
“Amir is an outstanding young person with a great drive for excellence,” Deem said of Peat. “He’s a wonderful example of someone who has talent yet wants to improve on that talent rather than rest on his laurels.”