Henry Drietner
Picture of the band with their trophy.
Since 1998, the Thundering Herd Brahma Band has not been able to achieve sweepstakes until this year. After four long months of practicing their UIL concert music, the band broke a record of 27 years.
The band’s performance this year included David Shaffer’s Conquista, Carol Britten Chambers’ Softly Speaks the Night, and Randall D. Standridge’s Brave Spirit.
Some of the band captains include junior Kendall Mayer, sophomore Raelynn Wenske, senior Alayna Vawters, and senior Sam Mojica.
Mayer is studying to be next year’s drum major and the brass section captain. Mayer works hard to ensure her section sounds good and is performance-ready.
“We all worked to do our parts in the band, as brass makes up half the band. If we didn’t put our all into it and perform how we did, we wouldn’t have gotten the ratings we did,” Mayer said.
Wenske has worked hard with her section over the marching and concert season.
“I think we improved a lot. I think our section got more mature as we went, we definitely have room for improvement, but we did good. I honestly am sad with people dropping out of band next year, and all the seniors graduating. I think everyone else will have to step up to improve for next year,” Wenske said.
Being seniors, Mojica, DeLeon, and Vawters wanted to leave the band with a lasting memory of themselves.
Mojica, a percussionist in the band and co-section captain, has been in the high school band since her freshman year. Seeing how this is her last year, Mojica wanted to make a lasting memory and record of her performance.
“I feel like it’s a very big improvement from our freshman year. Mr. Drietner has definitely helped us achieve what we are now; our progress from our sophomore year to our senior year has definitely improved, seeing how we made it to area two years in a row,” Mojica said.
DeLeon, a senior athlete as well as a trumpet player, has been in the high school band since her freshman year and has watched them grow more, as the years went on.
“I was definitely shocked that we could do it, but it just shows that we have come a long way. I would say that Mr. Drietner made a really big difference in what kind of band we are today. We have improved a lot, and I would even say that the underclassmen are better than me and have been taught better than I ever was,” DeLeon said.
Vawters was the band’s one and only drum major this year. She is also the captain of the flute section.
“It was definitely a memorable moment getting sweepstakes as a senior. I feel that I can leave high school feeling like something was accomplished,” Vawters said.
Although the seniors are leaving this year, they taught the underclassmen everything they know and will continue to contribute to the progression of the band.
“I definitely think that the band will continue to improve year after year. Seeing how the underclassmen are, I have no doubt that this band will be the best of the best in a few years,” DeLeon said.
This year is Mr. Drietner’s second year as Hallettsville High School’s band director. Although he is in his early years of being the Hallettsville director, he is doing big things and breaking big records.
“I did think that I would be breaking the school record of no sweepstakes for 27 years, but I did not know how early that would happen. With the difficulties that we had last year, I didn’t know how fast the students would bounce back from that. The big jump in maturity from last year was probably the factor that helped us get sweepstakes this year,” Drietner said.
Going forward, Drietner will have new expectations for the band to make sure they can repeatedly achieve this goal.
“Now the expectation is to increase the power of the music that we will play in the future, and raise the demand on individual students,” Drietner said.
The band will have its next concert on May 15th. Be sure to go out and support your Thundering Herd Brahma Band!