Last year, Millbrook’s wind ensemble, the top band at Millbrook, took two major trips to Winston Salem for the North Carolina Music Educators Association conference (NCMEA) and Washington, D.C. for President’s Cup. The band did a fantastic job being a guest band at NCMEA with their grade 6 and master work pieces. They also were able to win home the cup in D.C. with their amazing performance. This year, Millbrook’s wind ensemble is going on two more trips to South Carolina and Indianapolis. Let’s look more at what these trips are about and how the band is preparing for their performances.
Millbrook’s wind ensemble is now invited to be a guest band at the 46th annual University of South Carolina’s (USC) Honors band clinic on February 17. The band sent in past performance recordings and were picked based on a blind evaluation from USC band directors. Band director Mr. Payne is a USC alum and he says, “This clinic is very important to me because I went to the school and it holds a special place in my heart.” Millbrook’s wind ensemble has prepared five pieces to perform on stage for the clinic. Preparation has been tough and band student Elizabeth Gale says, “preparing for the concert has been a lot, but it’s going well. We keep making progress each practice.” The line up of pieces the wind ensemble will be playing include “Fanfare,” “Roma,” “Esprit De Corps,” “Turbo Scramjet” and “Strange Humors.” All the pieces have very different styles and the band is diligently preparing for each piece.
The next trip the wind ensemble is preparing for is the Indianapolis trip. Just like with the USC show, the band sent in recordings to be able to perform at the National Concert Band Festival in Indiana. The band is preparing some of the same pieces that are for USC and adding another piece as well. This trip lasts for a couple days and they have other activities to do other than perform. Band student and junior Marina Cauret says, “I am so excited to go to Indianapolis because of the formal dance we get to do with other band students. It’s a time to have fun and connect with others as well.”
The preparation has been hard on the wind ensemble but they are ready to perform and have a great time!
