Holmes band students prep for concerts

As we approach the end of the winter season, concerts for the band, orchestra and choir are going to be upcoming. The preparations for these performances will be going into full swing as concert dates get closer and closer. 

Ninth grader Kaylee Stitchman plays the flute for the band. Stitchman said, “I try to practice more leading up to concerts so I can play more confidently and be less likely to mess up. I definitely feel more confident with our music at our concert than when we first started it. Everything is a lot easier after how much we practice. I usually make sure I’m ready for concerts by working in parts of the music that are harder for me or the parts I’m not able to play correctly 100 percent of the time.”

Holmes band teacher Laura Englehardt said, “Each of our performances are broken down into three units in preparation for the concert. The first three weeks are spent focusing on notes and rhythms, followed by articulations and dynamics and the final unit adds all of the polishing touches and gets the music up to tempo. As we get closer to the concert, we start refining the details more and ensuring that all students are getting the challenging parts cleaned up. We increase the expectation on endurance through practicing longer segments.”

 On the matter of how prepared she finds that students usually are for concerts, Englehardt said, “As musicians, we are constantly raising the expectation and holding ourselves to higher standards. The students here do a great job of coming in for extra help the last couple of weeks before performances if they need help on a spot they aren’t getting so they can feel great about their performance at the concert.”