Ringgold High School band director Tracy Wright didn't just recently return to the classroom, he recently returned to the country. Wright was invited to conduct the State Honours Ensemble of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, this summer.
As a staff member of the Western International Band Clinic held in Seattle, Wash., every November, Wright made acquaintances with several visiting band directors and their students from Australia. The directors then invited him to conduct the middle school aged group of the State Honours Ensemble of Queensland (similar to All-State band in the U.S.) in its inaugural year.
"I never thought that I would get the opportunity to conduct an ensemble in another country, and I was obviously very excited," Wright said. "I felt honored and blessed and humbled that I had that opportunity, and especially to work with students from that country."
The students had previously auditioned for the group, and when Wright arrived in Brisbane, they had a short amount of time to rehearse. Fittingly, their concert featured pieces that reflected American culture, particularly the South, Wright said, as well as pieces by Australian composers.
Wright has been the band director at RHS for two years and was the band director at Ringgold Middle School for 23 years, but said he was enlightened by the opportunity to share his joy of music with a different audience and group of students.
"Music truly is a universal language," he said. "Even though the majority of the students in my group spoke English, there was still the international experience of going to another country. I had students from all over, not just Australia. There were some Asian students and some aboriginal students as well."
After a successful concert, Wright said he and his family took some time to explore Brisbane, and also traveled to Sydney to tour the famous opera house and take in a show among other activities, including a visit to a wildlife sanctuary.
"We got to hold a koala bear - or a koala; they don't call them bears," Wright said. "They laugh at you if you call them a bear over there."
The upcoming year at RHS should also be special. The band program will celebrate its 65th annual anniversary this school year, and the marching band is set to perform throughout the football season with a special "Pirates of the Caribbean" theme. A few other items of note for the band include their annual Veterans Day concert, a holiday concert and a trip in April to New York City to perform at Cadogan Hall.