Portales High Band improves at district

PORTALES — The Portales High band finished its short marching season with a marked improvement at Tuesday’s district competition in Artesia.

Of the nine bands attending the Southeast District competition, Portales was one of just three bands to receive a superior rating of 1, and was the only Class 4A band to do so. The other bands to receive a 1 rating were Carlsbad and Hobbs, said PHS Band Director Kelli Morrison.

The Ram band, coming off a 14th-place performance at Amarillo’s High Plains Marching Festival, again performed its “Music of a Lifetime” show.

“We had a significantly improved performance from our last time out,” Morrison said. “It’s not rated the same way. It’s rated against the standard on a scale from 1 to 5, where 5 is the lowest score. There’s no way of placing bands above one another, except for which bands get higher ratings.”

The band now moves into more individual work, with all-district and all-state band auditions upcoming.