The band students showcased their talent during the annual Spring Concert, held in the San Dieguito Academy gymnasium last Thursday night.

The Concert was open to all family and friends and featured the Symphonic Band, Wind Ensemble II, and Wind Ensemble I. Each band performed two songs and awards were presented throughout the concert to recognize outgoing musicians.

Preparing for the concert took a lot of work. In fact, the band students started preparing during the beginning of second quarter. “You really need to practice and learn your part or else you’ll screw up and suck,” said freshman Simmone Stearn.

Dressed in formal tuxedos and elegant dresses, all three bands were joined by incoming freshmen to play two final songs. They performed “The Stars & Stripes Forever” by John Philip Sousa, and “Star Wars, The Marches” by John Williams. These final songs were chosen because they had a variety of instruments, individual contributions, and great sounds, freshman Alexis Price said.

In the end, the concert was not just a good way for the band students to share with others what they learned, but it was also great opportunity to honor all the seniors.

“I’m going to be a music major,” said senior Emma Chang. “I’m going to go to college and focus specifically on the horn. I feel that the band is what helped me decide to do that because with all the literature I played I just fell in love with every single piece; I fell in love with the sound I can create on this metal thing. It’s really fueled my passion for what I want to do for life.”

Near the end of the concert, seniors were recognized for the many terms they dedicated to the band program. Those who took part in six, seven, or eight terms of band were honored with cords.

Afterwords, a senior slide show packed with memorable photos was displayed. The night ended with cake for everyone in celebration of the graduating seniors and the wonderful years they spent with SDA’s band program.

“I don’t really fit in with any other crowd. Cause when I joined middle school, joining band was actually an accident and I was like I don’t want to be degraded as a nerd or I don’t want to be laughed at. But then once I joined, I found my people, I found the people that I clicked with..So when I went to high school I was like I’m just going to continue this because people are cool..This is my thing. I love the people, I love music, I love playing my instrument, I’m just going to continue with this,” said Chang.

The following musicians were award recipients:
“John Philip Sousa Band Award”- Max Opferkuch
“Director’s Award for Band”- Emma Chang, Laura Gilmore
“Louis Armstrong Jazz Award”- Brett Stoner-Osborne
“Outstanding musician”- Luke Fosgett, Zack Edwards,Tommy Morberg, Bijan, Devin Walsh, Josh Pawlak, Yoni Kruvi
“Most Improved Musician”- Samantha Bellier-Igasaki, Lilia Welsh, Kat Weinzierl, Alex Walsh, Sean Gahman
“Most Dedicated Musician”- Arman Sedgwick-Billimoria
“Esprit de Corps Award”- Alexis Hale