Q and A with the leaders of orchestra, band, and choir

Nathan Jackson, Editor In Chief

Orchestra

Q: What do you do as concertmaster?
A: I’m a concertmaster for Orchestra, which means I lead people, especially in the section I’m in. After we start on a song, it’s up to me to decide what spots need tweaking and who gets solos.

Q: Anything noteworthy happen so far this year?
A: Nothing so far, but this year has been going really well. There’s always a challenge with a new year, bring in new people and finding a new dynamic. Luckily we’ve all been brought together by good music, so the future is looking really good and I’m very excited to see what next year brings.

Band

Q: So what do you do as band major?
A: Usually I try to balance watching the game versus keeping the band involved, so Katelin Ovsak and I watch the game to find the best times to play, because obviously we wouldn’t want to play when someone is injured. We talk to people, keep them engaged. During marching band, you’ll see me wearing the big hat and conducting everyone. I issue commands, tell them what songs to play, and tell them how to move

Q: What’s it like working with Mr. Tanner?
A: It’s fun simply because it lowers my stress level. I can always ask him if I’m doing something wrong or I can ask him if I’m unsure about something. He’s like backup, so I can try out new things and have a safety net under me.

Choir

Q: What do you do?
A: I’m part of the guiding council, which discusses anything anything that needs to be dealt with. Normally it’s stuff like refilling the Cup O’ Noodles stockpile that we keep in the room (and we run short quite often). Most of us on the guiding council are also section leaders, so we make sure everyone knows their part, help play parts, and make sure our section is behaving because we’re a large group of kids.

Q: What’s it like to work with Mrs. Wood?
A: It’s so awesome! A lot of us have known Mrs. Wood since elementary or middle school, and we know her a lot more on a personal basis than our other teachers, so we all have very strong relationships with her and it’s super easy to collaborate and communicate with her. We work on discussing events with her and help plan out concerts and field trips.