According to band teacher Steven Schmitz, the first band concert of the year previewed holiday music and songs they will perform on their trip to Hawaii this spring.

“We wanted to have a holiday element for sure, so every band had a holiday piece. There was some Hanukkah represented and Christmas,” Schmitz said.  “A little over 50 students are traveling to Hawaii so we are learning the music throughout the year so we don’t have to stress out and learn it right before (the trip).”

Schmitz said the band will be playing at the the Pearl Harbor Memorial as an elegy for the fallen soldiers of the USS Arizona.

“The U.S. military has to approve our music, so it all has to be patriotic,” Schmitz said.

According to senior Billy Nicholls, patriotic songs include pieces such as “At Dawn They Slept’ and “Elegy for the USS Arizona”.

“(The song) was a memorial for December 7th and Pearl Harbor and that went over really well,” Nicholls said.

Schmitz said all four band ensembles are farther ahead than they have been in previous year’s curriculums.

“In my seven years here, this is the strongest that all the bands have been at this point of December ever, so thats a huge high for me,” Schmitz said. “The rest of the year, who knows where we’ll get, because we started really strong with this concert.”

Nicholls said one of his favorite parts of the concert was playing a piece he and other band members wrote.

“A high of the concert was six percussionists did a bucket drumming piece and we wrote it and performed it ourselves and that went really well,” Nicholls said.

Nicholls said he has made lasting friendships with many people in band and is trying to enjoy the time he has left.

“I’ve been doing this for three years now and all of the memories we’ve made and relationships we’ve built are all going to kind of end, but we are all just enjoying it while we can.”