During the Instrumental Honors Music Recital, the middle and high school students had the opportunity to showcase musical pieces that they practiced for months outside of school in Bolles Hall. Although the musicians played complex compositions with seemingly little effort, that on-stage ease comes with some backstage preparation. During the half hour before the performance there, minor panic attacks, random dance breaks, and extreme concentration occured.
Half an hour before the show started, some musicians awkwardly hovered at the door, while those who have been playing an instrument in band for many more years entered in loudly making jokes.
With over 10 different pieces playing at once, the room was consumed with noise and it became hard to hear yourself think. Two middle school students struggled to hear their music and left the room to practice their duet “Duetto” in the art gallery.
By 6:32 pm, less than 30minutes before the recital, the first last-minute problem arose: Bolles Hall would have a larger echo than the band room. The students were concerned their musical compositions would sound much different for themselves as they were performing in Bolles Hall compared to perfoming them on the familiar McGehee stage and band room.
A clear and nervous energy overwhelmed the practiced room. Jake McGraw, a middle school performer, began nervously pacing around the room while claiming “this helps.” Richard Still (‘17) commented “ the middle school preformers have a lot of confidence to preform because I rember that when I was in middle school I could never play as well as they did.”
Others chose to direct their anxiety into last minute practicing. They clearly did not want to be bothered as they intensely stared at their sheet music with furrowed brows.
Unlike most, Still (‘17) made lighthearted conversations and at one point began singing the High School Musical song “Get your Head in the Game”, but quickly stopped when some students shot him a concentrated glare. Later, Still (‘17)began to dance as the Saxophone Quartet played “When I’m 64”.
Minutes before the recital, Mrs. Vance, the upper and middle school band director, spoke moving words about the power of music in tough times: “Let’s all go out there and perform our very best, because in tough times it is important to acknowledge the power of music.”
On the walk over to Bolles Hall, some students recounted stories of past band mistakes, claiming they could never mess up as much as they had previously. Despite all worrying, the band students were able to put on a show that left audience members in awe.