Thursday Jan. 20, Edmond Memorial High School’s Wind Symphony traveled to Tulsa, Okla. to perform at the Oklahoma Music Educators Association (OkMEA) convention as an honor band for the second time under the current director Jeff Jahnke. 

In order to be chosen for the OkMEA honor band, music educators must fill out an application and submit recordings of their band to be judged on a scale from one to 100.

OkMEA told the Wind Symphony of their nomination in August, but due to marching band, they started rehearsal in late November.

“I do think the students were very prepared for the performance. They have a tremendous work ethic and had really focused rehearsals throughout the process. They are engaged and really anxious to make music every day and that was reflected in their performance,” Jahnke said.

The band played multiple pieces including “Elsa’s Procession,” “American Overture Psalms for Band,” and “Convention of the Cordials.”

“I loved ‘Elsa’s [Procession]’ because of how slow and beautiful it was, how patient it was but it turned into these cool chords and highlight at the end,” Junior flute player Stephanie Cromer said.

The performance went smoothly, and the bumps that did happen fixed themselves due to the hard work of all the members.

“The band performed great. We recovered from what mistakes we made really well, which shows how familiar we became with the pieces,” Senior trumpet player Sam Green said.

Even with all the business the day brought, members of the band still found time to enjoy everything going on around them. From watching other bands to warming up together, the band made great memories.

“Whenever we warmed up altogether for the first time it was entirely empty, and we could hear the ring of our instruments at the end of crescendos,” Senior saxophone player Lillian Banks said.

It was an honor for the band to attend this event, and they are excited to do it again in the upcoming years.

Contact Adeline Gruen at [email protected]