Evergreen band students vying for state honors

Band members at Evergreen Middle School definitely know how to hit the right note – the Central Valley District school is sending the largest contingent of students to the first Junior All-State Band concert today.

While most schools have one to four players on the honor band, which features students from across Eastern Washington, Evergreen has seven students on the roster.

The concert, which starts at 4.30 p.m. at Lewis and Clark High School’s auditorium, is hosted by the Washington Music Educators Association and is free to the public.

The seven eighth-grade boys have been meeting almost every morning before class to make some music.

“They’re pretty high academically, they’re very gifted musically and the music they were given was very tough,” said Scott Gehrett, Evergreen’s band teacher.

The young musicians will join the other students today for an all-day practice session before the concert; it will be the first time all the students from the different schools play together as a group.

WMEA Eastern Manager Kathleen Blair said about 215 students auditioned and 82 were selected. She said the idea to introduce an honor band at the middle-school level emerged years ago but it took a long time to determine whether schools would support it – the organization already sponsors high school and elementary school honor bands.

Blair said the fact that so many students from Evergreen Middle School are going to the concert is a testament to the dedication of the band director at the school because teachers must spend a lot of time preparing students for the auditions and teaching them the music.

Commitment to practice and a passion for the music may be some of the elements for Evergreen’s musical success story. Just for the audition, the students had to put in extra time to practice and record their pieces to send to a selection committee, Gehrett said.

They received the pieces they will play today at the end of the last school year so they would have plenty of time to hone their skills.

Early Thursday morning before class started, the students were at the school’s band room experimenting with a piece Gehrett had given them. The sound of clarinets, drums, trombones and an alto saxophone filled the air with jazzy melodies.

“It’s kind of cool to think we’re like the best around,” said Kevin Kelley, who plays percussion.

The students said they were excited and nervous, because while they’ve all been playing their instruments for at least two years, it hasn’t been easy preparing for the concert.

“At first it was kind of hard, ‘Oh my gosh, how am I going to do it?’ Now it just flows,” said Ian Howard, a trumpeter. “We’re all good in our own way.”

Brian Coats, who plays the drums, said one of the challenging parts has been reading some of the notes for his section which includes notes for timpani and bells.

Michael Lucas and Taylor Giese, on clarinet, Trevor Ward on the trombone and Mitchell Dumais on the alto saxophone finish off the ensemble.

For the students, band is not just a phase, they said. They hope to continue playing well after middle school.

“My uncle plays trombone, and he’s good too,” said Ward, who obviously draws some inspiration from family.

Gehrett said all the students are self-motivated.

“They just take it and they eat it up,” he said. “Our job is to give them the skills that will get them well-rounded on their instruments.”

Other area schools that will be represented at the concert include Chase, Sacajawea and Salk middle schools in Spokane, and Centennial Middle School in Spokane Valley. Students are also coming in from Davenport, Medical Lake, Yakima and Riverside among others.

Gehrett said the concert is not only an incentive for students to excel, but also an opportunity for the community to celebrate their talents.

“It’s just a good thing for parents to see what their capabilities are,” Gehrett said, adding that many times the focus on teenagers is negative. “I like it when these kids are highlighted in what they’re really good at.”