My First Honor Band Experience

This coming Saturday, November 4, nine students from Orange City Christian will participate in the performance of the 50th Northwest Iowa Junior High Honor Band. These students went through quite the process to earn these positions. The following is one student's perspective, with thoughts from the others, of the process leading up to the performance that will take place on Saturday.

My First Honor Band Experience

By: Katelyn Huizenga, 7th Grade

This year was my very first time trying out for honor band! It was a really good experience and a really fun one too! We had to leave at 6:30 a.m., and we arrived in Storm Lake a little before 8:00. We were all very nervous and also excited at the same time. Once we got to the school, we went inside and into the gym where we all practiced. We all had to audition throughout the morning. Once we were finished auditioning, we either went with a friend to listen to their audition, or we went to the cafeteria to play cards with the other kids from our school that had auditioned already.

After we were all finished auditioning, the judges posted the callbacks, and then the kids who were called back did their audition again. Once we all were finished with the callbacks, we packed up in the school van and then went to eat at Pizza Ranch.

After lunch, we quickly drove over to see Storm Lake’s “Storm Lake.” Before long, we were once again piling into the van and driving back to the school. We were all so nervous to see the results. Finally, they put up the decision and we found out if we got in or not.

Being on that list was AWESOME! The kids that made it stayed that afternoon for a band rehearsal. Sitting with the band kind of felt strange because there were all these new instruments. Together we sounded great! When you are with all the best players around, then it works really well.

We all had our favorite parts. I think my favorite part was being able to play with the band. Kia (clarinet) said, “My favorite part was going to the lake and almost falling in.” Jenna (flute) said, “I liked the ride home when we were done, and we got to eat a lot of food and have fun.” Emma (flute) said “It was a great experience to be able to audition with all the other great flute players. On top of that, it was even better to play with them in the band.” Courtney (clarinet) said, “I loved going to Pizza Ranch, but it was packed. But we got a table right away anyway.” Dacey (tenor saxophone) said, “My favorite part was the ride home because we were all excited, and we played lots of fun games.” Emily (French Horn) said, “I think my favorite part was playing with the band and getting fun music to play.” James (trumpet) said, “The best part of the audition day was learning how to play the game Centro Pica.” Nicholas (trumpet) said, “My favorite part of honor band was going and playing on the pier at the lake, it was amazing!!!!!”

Once all the practicing was done, it was time to go, and I think we could all say that it was a great experience. We all are looking forward to our performance this Saturday, November 4, at the Storm Lake High School and are excited to do it all again next year!