What if creativity and music could be combined to create one breathtaking event? On October 5, Symphonic Band was given the opportunity of a lifetime. They worked together with Country Music Hall of Fame artists to compose an original song titled, “Respect the Phin.” Throughout the song the band expressed the meaning and importance of respect.

Once the piece was completed, it was performed by the legends Jerry Vandiver, Ross Orenstein, and Tim Buppert, who all recently participated in the 9^th annual Pensacola Beach Songwriters Festival. Jerry has been an exclusive staff songwriter for Dick James Music, Little Big Town Music, Malaco Music, and Talbot Music. He has had two songs recorded by Tim McGraw including, “It Doesn’t Get Much Countrier Than This,” and, “Not A Moment Too Soon.” Ross Orenstein is an award winning children’s songwriter. He has written music for safety icons McGruff the Crime Dog and the Safety Ape. Tim Buppert is a successful songwriter who has not only sung on albums by Trisha Yearwood, Michael Peterson, Kevin Sharp, Billy Ray Cyrus, And Rodney Atkins, but has sung on jingles for Pepsi, Luvs Diapers, TNN and many more.

Kate Turk, 7th grader, described the experience as “exciting, musical, and enjoyable.” It was not only a fun event, but an exciting way to learn about composing as well. Below are the lyrics to the new song.

UPDATE! Here are links to the videos shared by the PBSF folks just recently. First, they explain who was involved and how they got together, then we see the entire song performed!

 “Respect The Phin”

It starts with trust

And a little bit of caring

A whole lot of kindness

That goes along with sharing

GBMS is the school we’re in

And that’s what it means to respect the phin.

At our school

We’ve got a great attitude

And we never forget

To show our gratitude

It doesn’t matter whether we lose or win

We’ll love each other and respect the phin.

D – O – L – P – H – I – N

If you didn’t hear us

We’ll say it again

Dolphins Rock and Dolphins Rule

We all stick together here at our school.

Yeah the blue and the gold

Stands for honesty

Manners and forgiveness

And positivity

That’s who we are

And we’ve always been

That’s what it means to respect the phin.

Yeah that’s what it means to respect the phin.