This past Friday, May 8, Leesville’s symphonic band held their annual spring concert. This concert was the final school band performance for the seniors — met with both sadness for leaving and excitement for the new year.
The concert was highly anticipated and was put on with a lot of hard work and behind the scenes effort from the band members.
“Everyday we have morning rehearsal at 6:45 and afternoon rehearsal during 4th period. Each individual instrument section has sectionals once a week for half an hour and everyone has to practice. Individually we put in a lot of time, but also as an ensemble we have to learn each others parts in addition to our own,” said Madeline Downs, drum major.
A big part of the concert, and one that added a sort of tribute to the senior class, was senior solos. Madeline Downs, Kristen Lavery, Shayna Prace, and Heather Thompson all had solos and played clarinet, trombone, french horn, and piccolo, respectively.
“I was really nervous because mine was towards the end, so i had to sit there for the whole concert. During the solo, I had so much fun — it was worth it all the hard work and practice that went into that,” said Downs.
At the end, Ms. Montgomery recited all the seniors names and college plans from memory. It seemed to be both a proud, yet sad, moment for both her and the band seniors — considering it was their final concert at Leesville.
“It was really bittersweet because some of the guys I’ve been with, I’ve been in band with for seven years now and knowing that it’s all over it is definitely bittersweet because we’re leaving — but at the same time, it’s ok because it will always be in my mind as a high school memory,” said Bradley Turner, captain.
As the class of 2015’s time at Leesville comes to a close, the band program reflects on how things are going to be next year.
“I think they’ll do great. There’s a lot of great upperclassmen that have potential, and I do believe the band program will be able to leave a legacy like it’s been doing the past few years,” said Turner.
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