The Westwood High School band’s mission statement is “Pride, Passion, Family,” which was established in 2017. Brittany Dacy, Director of Bands, talks about each of these three words, but spends the most time on family — and the Austin, Texas, band community has fully embraced it. “We collaborate with our orchestra program to have three full orchestras. Our students love full orchestra because of the repertoire we do but also the collaboration with the orchestra students and directors,” she said.

This family atmosphere was especially apparent during the pandemic, when the band did not lose one student. “We were 90% virtual and only saw students during events and rehearsal outside in the parking lot,” Dacy explains. “We worked hard during the pandemic to recreate the feeling of home and a safe space that students had in the actual band hall over Zoom. We wanted every student to feel like they were not alone and constantly reminded them that they were still valued as people and part of the band.” 

Dacy’s ensemble selects one piece in every concert program. Students participate in an initial vote of their favorite piece, then they have to lobby the rest of the class for why or why not we should play each piece. “The class uses a set of values and considerations that the students came up with,” Dacy explains. “This gives them the autonomy to choose but it also gives them the opportunity to work together and critically consider various elements of the pieces. It’s really incredibly wonderful to witness this process.”

The positive relationship and culture of her ensembles guide her students to be better humans. “I talk a lot about how to be a good human during rehearsals and especially with our student leadership,” Dacy explains. “I had a parent tell me that their student said I make students feel like they can do the right thing and perform better even when they aren’t there yet. I want to help all my students find their voice, support them through their ups and downs and grow.”

Dacy is willing to take on extra work for her students. Westwood High is an International Baccalaureate school, where academics are a big deal. Many of her top students were not able to meet with the IB Music teacher during their advisory time. “I wanted our highest students to be able to delve deeper into music and I wanted to support our academic environment, so I became an IB teacher myself,” Dacy says.

Now students can use one of their band classes as IB Music with her. “It allows them another way to get IB credit and go deeper into music to explore in ways we wouldn’t normally be able to do,” she says.

Dacy is also open to new ideas. A conversation with a parent sparked an idea for her band students to learn about a style of music from a different culture. “For the last three years, at our marching band community performance with the middle school bands, we play a tune selected by our band family,” she says proudly. “It’s a community celebration and a way to bring different musical styles to our marching band.”