A Glorious Festival

Brentwood has a robust musical history and shares it with the world through festivals. The Wind Ensemble worked conscientiously to prepare for their recent performances in Port Alberni and Victoria where they performed “Campbell River Sketches”, “Celtic Voyage” and “The Great Locomotive Chase”. The students have been working on these pieces three times a week and after school since early January. Through this journey, the musicians enhanced their musical skills and contributed to the band.  The music performed by the band scored superior ratings from the adjudicators and was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience. At first, we were very nervous in adjusting our tone quality towards the atmosphere, but once we started playing, the nerve-wracking feeling had diminished. Anthony B, Rogers ‘21 stated, “This is the best we have performed all year.” Experiences like this give students at Brentwood opportunities to advance in their designated field of interest and explore beyond the classroom.  The band was initially concentrating on playing the music at certain tempos and properly playing the dynamics. It was a struggle at the beginning. With the help of Mr Clausen and Ms Als, however, we were able to harmonize and deliver at our festivals. The band was able to learn more from the feedback delivered by the musical directors from UBC and UVIC. They enjoyed our music and pointed out minor imperfections which we could improve on.  Upcoming performances include the Whistler Con Brio Festival in early May and the Concert for A Summer’s Eve in June. Areeb S, Rogers ‘20