The Summerglen Files

Welcome back for part 3 of our “Watch the Marching Band Grow” series here on the Summerglen Blog! For the past two weeks, we’ve been working a lot with the band on musical unity and emotional expression. And at this weekend’s performance at the Capital City Band Expo, the kids did the best they’ve ever done in both areas!

Here in our third song, the wind and brass players are really moving air, pushing their limits to fill the field with sound. The students are still having trouble blending their sounds with each other, but they’re making progress! Check out the audience’s response, which is much more enthusiastic than it has been at shows in the past. The kids are starting to communicate through their music!

Now, the closer. One of my favorite parts about this performance of the closer is the subtle touches the kids have added to communicate the emotion of the music. Notice the mournful tone the pit and guard take toward the end, and the trumpeter’s use of space in his solo. It sounds contemplative, lonely, and absolutely depressing.

We’ve been working a lot on emotional expression lately at our rehearsals, and now we’re starting to see the results. What’s strange, though, is that the results aren’t what I originally expected. I thought, “Oh, a Moulin Rouge show! Fun! Happy!” But at the last two performances, I’ve seen audience members crying at the end of the show. Perhaps our students are looking past all the glitz and glamour of the Moulin Rouge, and tapping into the deeper emotions underneath. Sacrifice, heartbreak, and broken dreams are as much a part of the Moulin Rouge as the sequins and lights. And these Millbrook kids are fearlessly exploring this stuff each time they play.

If that’s not musical growth, I don’t know what is!