Band

This is a base flute, which is one of the unconventional flutes we used during our performance at IBA.

On Friday, I and a group of 11 other flutists got the opportunity to play at IBA. IBA is a prestigious conference in Des Moines, Iowa. The conference is for all instruments including brass, woodwind, and percussion. I played in a flute choir in the lobby. Being able to play at IBA is an honor, because it is something you have to be invited to play at, you don’t just sign up. There were band directors there from all over the state of Iowa to listen to us and the other performers. It was nice to get a chance to show off all the hard work we had put into our music. Other than playing at the conference, we were able to go around and visit different organizations that had set up stands. Some of these were travel agencies (to organize band trips), music companies, and fundraising companies. They all had one thing in mind though; catch the attention of the band students and directors because they wanted our business. The fundraising stands were the best though because they had samples of basically everything they sold, including cheesecake, which is my favorite. After we performed and walked around at the conference, we watched the Washington Band perform. Out of all the schools in Cedar Rapids, Kennedy and Washington were the only schools that got asked to perform. We went to see the Washington band to support them; it was also a good learning experience for us as musicians. The performance seemed long but it was very good.

After we left the conference we all went to dinner at the Spaghetti House in Des Moines. It was between that and the Cheesecake Factory, but we were in a hurry to get home and the Spaghetti House was closer. The food there was really good and it was a nice celebration in honor of all the hard work we had been putting into band. The band parents even agreed to cover the cost of the dinner using the band account as a reward.

The performance for the flute choir was the last major thing we have this year. We are not done yet though, as next Friday we have to perform at graduation. After graduation, we are done until Hog Wild Days, which means we will just work on our marching skills. I’m really excited for this because we will be able to teach the freshmen how to march since they have never done it before.