The Piner Symphonic 1 Band competed at UIL Concert & Sightreading competition on April 10 at Wylie East High School. UIL contests are held throughout Texas and are respected and recognized nationally because the standard for excellence is very high. Bands performing at UIL contest are required to compete in two separate categories. For the “Concert” portion, each band must play three selections from a state-required list of pieces of varying difficulty. For the “Sightreading” category, bands are asked to study and perform a piece neither the students nor the director have seen before. Each category has a panel of three judges who rate the band based upon the quality of their performance on the music. The Piner Band received first-division superior ratings from all judges in each category of the contest, earning what is known as a “Sweepstakes” award. Shown here are several members of the award winning band during an after school practice. The Piner band is under the direction of Mark Wallace.