By April-Joy McCann
[email protected]
On March 2, the 37th annual North Central District Parade of Bands was held at the Leilehua High School gymnasium. Unlike past concerts, the change of venue presented a challenge which allowed the wind ensemble to listen to other schools.
“It allows, first of all, to have an opportunity for the wind ensemble to share with the community and to share with our middle school and as well as the other high schools and middle schools in the district,” explained MHS Wind Ensemble director Curtis Hiyane.
The exhibition consisted of seven schools: Mililani Middle and High School, Waialua Intermediate and High School, Wheeler Middle School, Wahiawa Middle School and Leilehua High School. “It’s interesting to listen to what songs they perform and how each band sounds,” said MHS clarinetist Senior Holly Hayashi.
With the pressure from the audience and other schools, students felt that the concert had a much different vibe. “It was also kind of intimidating because you see other bands and you always want to impress them but at the same time they want to impress you,” expressed MHS saxophonist Junior Tyler Yamauchi.
The ensemble prepared prior to the event by practicing their pieces, but their performance at the parade didnít go as well as some had hoped. “You can practice as much as you can but things might not go as well as you think they should, but you know we didnít do as well as we did on our rehearsal days, but we did pretty well considering everything,” explained Yamauchi.
However, the band used this as a learning experience. “Hopefully theyíll get a critical ear and when they listen to performances they can say, ‘That was well executed or well played or their intonation is a little off,'” said Hiyane.
The venue for the performance also had an effect on the wind ensembleís performance. “Usually we have all our performances at a more familiar place like Pearl City Cultural Center (PCCC) where we normally go to, but this time it was at Leilehua, and different settings have different feels,” said Yamauchi. Hiyane added, “The next performance is going to be in an auditorium; you can hear a little bit more detail.”
Overall, the students feel that all the schools that participated at the concert did a good job. “We all performed at our best and there is no way of comparing who is better or worse,” shared Hayashi.
The wind ensemble will continue to improve, as they will be having two clinicians from the mainland come and prepare the band for the Oahu Band Directors Associations Parade of Bands on April 10 at the PCCC.
