Following the Eureka bands marching season, they split into three groups based on skill level for concert season: Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band and Concert Band. Although all three groups are constantly improving and sharing their music at numerous events throughout the year, the Wind Ensemble raised the bar this year due to playing at the Missouri Music Educators Association (MMEA) on Jan. 30.

“This performance is a big deal because only a few high school bands get to perform at this and it’s a meeting for all of Missouri’s music educators,” clarinet player Bryce Boudreau, 9, said.

Since marching season ended in October, the group put many hours of practicing into their music. They worked through class periods, several AcLabs, multiple rehearsals after school and not to mention any time they spent on their own.

Head Band Director Brad Smelser, was very dedicated to make sure he and the musicians were only putting in their best effort.

“This experience has demanded countless hours of preparation and rehearsal from every band director at Eureka High School,” Smelser said. “It has required considerable effort to ensure that I am personally doing my best to contribute to the Wind Ensemble’s success.”

One of the bands drum majors, saxophone player Isa Tumminello, 12, was glad to spend her last year creating music with her fellow bandmates.

“This performance means so much to me,” Tumminello said. “It is an amazing opportunity to grow as a musician and play for a lot of other talented musicians and teachers.”

The chance this group has been given has helped strengthen abilities inside and outside of band class.

“Many of my friendships have been strengthened because of the large amounts of time we spend as a band,” Percussionist Luca Kirkpatrick, 10, said. “Overall MMEA is a wonderful opportunity that has helped my skill and social life improve greatly.”

Students throughout the group were met with different challenges when it came to this sort of responsibility, but sometimes it wasn’t the music that caused the most difficulties.

“The most challenging aspect for me was playing [baritone saxophone],” Tumminello said. “I wasn’t originally going to play bari for our

band, but I am playing on behalf of a friend that is no longer with us.”

Flute player Anna Coppin, 11, was working on adjusting to the jump from Symphonic Band to Wind Ensemble.

“It’s a lot more work than in the other band I was in last year, the music is more challenging and it’s a lot more personal practice time,” Coppin said. “Last year, we would work on things together, or they would lead a whole section through it. Now you have to figure that out on your own, because the time we have together is used for putting parts together and figuring out the fine details. A lot of self checking, I guess.”

There were a few difficulties with managing responsibilities, however, Kirkpatrick still believes all the hard work is worth it for the results.

“It has been a challenge setting aside time to complete my other work along with finding the energy to do so,” Kirkpatrick said. “Although it’s true that you can do band and still participate in other activities, I think it’s important to be transparent about the amount of responsibility that comes with it. I truly believe that it is worth the extra effort though, especially if you have good time management skills.”

Even though there were these challenges to overcome, the group made incredible progress for their performance.

“To me, this performance shows how it’ll just be an accumulation of all the hard work, and it’ll be super cool to just go and to gain this experience,” Coppin said. “It’s been a good experience to work hard and to challenge myself and work on some harder music.”

After hearing them improve on the tunes they’ve been playing for a few months now, Smelser is very impressed with their growth.

“My favorite part of preparing for this conference has been watching the students grow and develop their abilities, ultimately emerging from this process as stronger musicians. It’s been truly remarkable,” Smelser said. “Beyond that, I’ve greatly enjoyed the personal learning this journey has afforded me. Bringing in clinicians to work with our students and learning from those individuals has made me a better teacher.”

Considering this could be one of their few times they perform in this event, there is no doubt that this is a huge achievement for the band and EHS.

“I can’t emphasize how amazing the people in this ensemble are enough,” Kirkpatrick said. “This group has made all of the work so much fun and it has reminded me how much I love music. There really is no experience quite like creating music with so many phenomenal musicians and friends.”