the other side of band...

i started to play the flute in fifth grade, as part of the music program at abbot elementary. sticking with it was one of the biggest choices i've made, and has lead to some of the best experiences of my life. middle school band was relatively uneventful. i was NOT a fan of the director, but i don't think that's an anomaly. however...high school was a different story. i started out in Mr. Albritton's Pioneer High School Band System (not an official title) in the varsity band - the first level, where most of the freshman start out, and a good number of sophomores stay. i didn't go to band camp my freshman year because i was too scared. however - chair audition time came, and i was fifth chair!! this was quite surprising. sophomore year i got into concert band, which is the second level. concert band was not so great...it included one game of marching, in which i had to play the saxophone. this year i actually went to band camp, and had a great time. i also played the piccolo for the first time - even though (by nature of a broken flute) i was ninth chair. symphony band came next, my junior and senior years. it is the highest level, and quite difficult to get into unless you're a junior or senior. my first year i was fifth chair again! i was astonished, as there were symphony band veterans placed lower than me! craziness. (we often speculated that Mr. Albritton was on crack when he did the chair auditions.) this was also the year that i was involved in Conga for the first time as a bass drum player. i continued to play flute in regular band, however. this year the band trip was to Boston, Mass. for a competition and sightseeing. (it was a fabulous 16 hour bus ride - which on the way home resulted in me getting an invitation to the prom!!) my second year in symphony band was the year we went to CHINA - how amazing is that?? i was also fifth chair again this year, which was a bit disappointing, but not horrible. and - i was the piccolo player, kind of by default, as the girls who were in front of me did not want to. incidentally, one of the big songs that we were playing for the China trip was Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever - which meant that I had to memorize a solo and walk out in front of the band to play it! this was relatively traumatic, especially for a shy person, but in the end it was glorious and i did wonderfully, although with a few mistakes here and there. i got in the ann arbor news for it. i was also, again by default, the piccolo player for the Pioneer Symphony Orchestra, which was an entirely different program from the band. their trip was to Atlanta, Georgia - so within a month, i was halfway around the world, and then down South! not only did my musical education allow me to travel - but it gave me the obvious appreciation for music. i had always loved music - but this way, i learned to be deep in the heart of it - playing music gets you so close to the core of the piece that you become a part of it, rather than just listening to it. i love all classical music, jazz, big band, etc., as well as the current stuff that's on the radio.

back to marching band · home at last