New Haven Band Students Get a Taste of MSU's Music Program

By Rachel Connell

On Friday, November 6th, some members of the New Haven High School band decided to travel to Springfield, Missouri to participate in MSU’s Band Day. This is a great opportunity for high school students to shadow the college students in order to gain some information about the band department of Missouri State University. MSU Band Day offers a chance for high school students to become an instrumental music major for a day. Sharon Brewster, Abby Perdue, Joshua Lindley, Nathan Allgaier, Carolyn Allgaier, and Rachel Connell decided to take up this opportunity.

At Band Day, the guests had the chance to speak to band students and the professors. Many different types of professors crowded the hall. Many of these professors have knowledge of a certain type of instrument and they helped to answer any questions concerning instruments.

After the meet-and-greet, the guests had a chance to ask questions of some students during the student panel. Last Friday, many students asked about college life in general as well as the pros and cons of being an instrumental music major.

Next, the students sat in a mock Music Theory class and discussed some of the topics that are brought up throughout the course of the class.

The students were then invited to attend a very outstanding musical performance from an small ensemble composed of four flutes.

Abby Perdue, being the only French Horn/Mellophone in the band at New Haven, was given the opportunity to listen in on a performance involving only French Horns. She was excited to be invited to this event. “It was the most beautiful thing I've ever heard, and I loved seeing the horns perform,” Abby stated, in amazement.

After being served with food of their choice, the next stop for New Haven students was  a performance by the wind ensemble. The group listened in on a practice run of the songs the wind ensemble would perform in days to come. Needless to say, the New Haven students were in awe.

Following the performance of the wind ensemble, the group decided to listen to the extraordinary orchestra. With just string instruments, a small portion of the orchestra performed a ballad that caused emotions to rise. “It reminded me of a movie,” Rachel Connell, junior Clarinet player, comments on the song. “I was utterly shocked by the abilities of the string players.”
   
The next opportunity was completely optional to the visiting members, but the New Haven group was anxious to see the Pride Marching Band rehearse. Joshua Lindley states, “I thoroughly enjoyed watching the marching band rehearsal because I got to see how relaxed and fun their marching program is.” It was a memorable moment for the group to be up-front for the experience.

Each student that was able to attend was able to savor a memory of their experience. Carolyn Allgaier, flute, shared “I got to play the contrabass flute, which was super cool because it is the lowest register playing flute. I had so much fun visiting MSU!” It was a very satisfying experience for each student.

Band Day gives insight to the experience at MSU for those who would like to pursue a career in music at the college level. Missouri State University offers a great program that is open to a wide variety of instrumental players. Band Day is a good opportunity to gain some information, so if you are interested in the program, be sure to make the visit to Springfield on Band Day next year!