As Park nears its winter break, the band had its first concert on Tuesday, Dec. 10 with ninth graders getting their first action. While they may sound the same, the band is back to their playing grounds of the high school theater as last year they were pushed to the middle school while the high school was under construction.
Junior band council vice president Nix Casey-Fix said they are happy to be able to play at the high school and perform in front of their supporters.
“We got to be back in our auditorium and we got to show all of our families what we’ve been working on this whole time,” Casey-Fix said. “It’s great to have the first concert back in our school.”
Band teacher Annaliese Heim said the new year brings a new band, and it’s her job to get to know the kids and connect with them.
“Every time, well, specifically with jazz bands and band nine, it’s a new group of kids every year,” Heim said. “Band nine have been playing together longer than I’ve known them, so that’s really interesting for them to come in and have this experience playing together and not knowing me.”
According to senior band president Julia Lorenzen, the freshmen have made big strides in preparation for the first concert and the jazz band gelled nicely.
“I’m so impressed with the ninth graders, how much they’ve grown since the spring of eighth grade. Also, the jazz band came together in a way that surprised me tonight after having to start quickly this year,” Lorenzen said.
Heim said the freshman band prepares pieces for games they go to. She said she enjoys having so much time to work with the students to prepare for the performances.
“The first month and a half of the year, we always focus on pep band music, and those are pop tunes that we play at sporting events,” Heim said. “Then, as soon as it hits October, we get out the music for the concert. It’s nice that we have the opportunity to meet every day for 50 minutes. We work on things as a large group. I have them broken down into smaller sections, and that’s how it comes together.”
Casey-Fix said the band has run smoother with the second year with their teacher. They said they are also more content with being back in their school.
“We’ve gotten a little more comfortable. Last year it was tough as our director was new, so I think it’s been great to get used to our director and how she works with us,” Casey-Fix said. “Also, we’re back in our band room and back in our auditorium. All of us have been able to get more used to it, and then from that, grow even more.”
Lorenzen said it has been helpful for the band to be able to play at the same time during school and to gain a rapport with each other while being able to practice in their performance space.
“We’ve been able to as a wind ensemble all practice together every day. That’s been helpful with blending balance and being able to rehearse in our space and auditorium for a couple of weeks leading up to the concert has just made it sound that much better.”
According to Casey-Fix, the band has been practicing on smaller things due to their advanced players. They said they are happy that they can work on these important details.
“A lot of this stuff we’ve been working on is the small details of stuff because I think that our band in general is pretty skilled this year,” Casey-Fix said. “I’m grateful that we’ve been able to kind of hone in on very specific things.”
