On a National Level

The trip to Indianapolis this year for Wind Ensemble I had to be one of the most impacting experiences in my life. When most people hear about Indianapolis, they think of Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts or NASCAR or whatever. But every year, Indianapolis is the center for the Music for All National Honor Band Festival. In a nutshell, this is pretty much where say, the top 12 Highschool Wind Ensembles and Orchestras from all over the nation perform for " the best of the best". There also are performances by the National Honor Band, Honor Orchestra, and Honor Jazz Band which consists of the best highschool players in the nation. It's pretty badass that Mt. Carmels Wind Ensemble was invited to go, and also that 4 people from our very own Wind Ensemble made it into the Honor Orchestra. BigUps to Scotty, Steven, Matt, and Melanie. Now I guess I'll just talk about different things on the trip.

First of all, being in a place where like EVERYONE around you has a passion for music was just crazy. We had "Master Classes" with professional players. We pretty much got alot of tips and advice on how to become a better musician. We also got to watch the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) play and rehearse. Up until this moment, I never thought I would enjoy listening to a live orchestra play. It really gives you this indescribable feeling inside. It's like you can feel the emotions the musicians feel while they are playing. It was just really inspiring to see such passionate people play. After the trip, I've find myself actually wanting to play for fun. Not practicing, but playing for fun as well.

As for our performance, I thought we did pretty kickass! Our program(song list), took many months to perfect. We probably got all of our music like a little bit into the start of the school year. After our performance, someone from the ISO came up to Mr. Torns our director and told him something along the lines of " That was the best highschool band I have ever heard". It felt so good to perform something that you've worked so hard for. Mr Torns was also really proud of u s. The performance also was different from every other performance I've had. Since they were gonna make DVD's of our performance, there was a live action camera like, flying around the stage, zooming in on soloists and other people haha. We're all still waiting for those dvd's, its been like almost 2 months!

After our performance, the rest of our trip was pretty much free time. One of my favorite nights was the student social haha. It was a dance with all the bands that were attending. There were alot of awkward people I'd have to say haha, but I got to meet a couple people from California who were in the National Honor Orchestra. The other days, everyone had free time at the mall. The mall over there was pretty regular. I was surprised to see a Pacific Sunwear there haha, but I wasn't surprised that it didnt really have that much good stuff. The rest of our nights were spent watching tv. I watched Borat for the first time too one night haha, funny ass movie. Another interesting thing about the trip was that, our hotel was connected to every other nearby hotel and so was the mall. Basically, because of the cold weather, or other reasons, each building had a walkway or tunnel that lead to the building right next to it or even across the street, so we hardly had to walk in the sidewalks.

If our band had the chance to go to Indianapolis again, I would mos def go without any hesitation. Its crazy how fast that time went by, from the f irst time we looked at the music to the time our plane landed back in San Diego. That seems to be the case with almost everything. In the whole preparation process, I probably faced the most stress I've ever faced before, faced the worst rehearsals, faced a huge amount of criticism on my playing, and with all it feels like forever. But once its over, you realize how fast it went by, and also how much you miss it. Honestly, all those hours of rehearsals and practice and stress was worth it. I know how cliche that sounds, but I'm being completely honest! The main thing that I got from this whole trip is to do whatever you do with passion, and the things you are passionate about, stay passionate about it. okay well i think i've said enough (especially for all the non-bandos haha) but yeah. One of the best trips of my life!