Samo band goes to Washington DC

Samo’s top concert band, the Wind Ensemble, recently traveled to Washington D.C. during the second week of spring break for their performance at the Kennedy Center. The five day trip ranged from April 12 to 17. The students had two performances and numerous activities during the tour. Previously, Wind Ensemble has showcased some of their tour music at events such as Bands at the Broad and their UCLA Royce Hall performance. Fundraising for the tour had been held at every band concert this school year. Pieces performed on tour included Cartoon by Paul Hart, Paris Sketches by Martin Ellerby and Short Essay by Travis Cross.The students got to experience many famous Washington D.C. attractions such as a monuments after dark tour, a dinner cruise on the Potomac River and many more.The main performance, held at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, was on April 16, where the Wind Ensemble was the showcase performance for a competition between Bullard High School and Mira Mesa High School bands and orchestra. Adam Katz ('18), a bass clarinetist in the Wind Ensemble, also enjoyed the tour and all the memories made with the group.“It was very fun to spend time with all of the wind ensemble kids outside of class. The Kennedy center is a phenomenal hall and playing there was fantastic. Most of the sightseeing activities were very fun and interesting,” Katz said. “I've been to DC before with my family but something about going with the band and my friends makes it that much more fun.”Wind Ensemble also performed in an public outdoor pops concert held in the Navy Memorial on April 14, as a pre-concert to the Kennedy Center.Wind Ensemble flutist Ila Amiri ('19) believes it was an amazing trip featuring Wind Ensembles greatest performance.“The outdoor pops concert was interesting. We played well but being outdoors, the acoustics were new and unexpected. We got some compliments after, which was nice,” Amiri said. “Being in a hall with some really awesome people is one of the greatest things you could ask for. It’s definitely the best that we’ve ever played our music.”Wind Ensemble director Kevin McKeown was proud of the DC tour regarding how the band performed and how far they have come this year. He believes it was a strong performance that upheld the Wind Ensembles standards. Also the fundraising from previous concert benefitted individual students greatly. “We were able to represent our school and our program as strong as ever, if not stronger. We saved the best performance till last, it was the best we played it,” McKeown said. “We were able to fundraise successfully so that we were able to get a lower price per student, from the Bands at the Broad concert, private donations, and the city of Santa Monica. The performance itself is very special but all the memories the kids make, the times that they’re hanging out together, being silly, being high schoolers but also maintaining a high level of musicianship and performance expectations for themselves.”Overall it was a very successful tour, and everybody was happy with the results that were received from the performance.