About a month or two ago, my mom picked me up from school. We were walking past the back of the music room when suddenly I saw Mr. Thompson pop out of his car and walk towards the back door of the music room when suddenly he saw us both and said “Hey Kanmani! I’m recommending you for the Honor Band okay?” I looked of into space as my mom thanked him and tried to get me to respond.
“Wait….. I’m in.”
“Yeah. But what is the band Kanmani? What is Honor Band?”
“I have just been asked to join the best band in the whole Mount Diablo Unified School District where very few students are picked from each school to play in an incredible and elite band.”
“Whoa. I’M SO PROUD OF YOU! YOU NEED TO ACCEPT YOU REALLY NEED TO!” She half-yelled.
“REALLY CAN I JOIN?!”
“YEAH!”
“WE SHOULD STOP YELLING!”
“MKAY.”
I was so shocked, sure I am first chair in my band class. But that doesn’t really mean anything. But THIS!? This was an incredible opportunity! I guess I was a decent enough player to get into it.
So of course. I joined.
Now lets fast forward to this Tuesday.
My friends Arwen, Thalia, and Katelyn, were also my friends who got into Honor Band and joined. Arwen plays the flute(SHE IS SO GOOD) Thalia plays the Alto Saxophone(AGAIN ANOTHER INCREDIBLE MUSICIAN)and last but not least another amazing flute player named Katelyn(OHMYGOSH I CANT EVEN AHHH) We all met at the Foothill Middle School band room for rehearsals for our chairs. The band room was now the flute rehearsal room while the other instruments filed out of the room to other areas in the school they were assigned to rehearse in. We all were supposed to test on the Chromatic scale and I WAS SO FREAKING NERVOUS. My hands shook and got clammy when I played, my heart beating a mile a minute. When I was done my friends and the other girls(and on boy flute player) stared at me. Even the teacher speechless.
Well guess what. I’M FREAKING THIRD CHAIR FLUTE IN THE ENTIRE BAND! I’M THE THIRD BEST PLAYER IN THE WHOLE BAND FOR THE FLUTE SECTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHH
My friends beamed at me as I stepped up to the third chair in the gargantuan MUR. Since the rehearsal was three hours we were given a fifteen minute break before we start playing with the entire band.
Arwen, Katelyn and I found Thalia coming out of a hall with other saxophones trailing behind her,she looked so happy and told us she got fourth chair for her instrument. I AM SO HAPPY FOR MY GIRL. Anyway during the break my friends and I burst into singing random songs that we all sang obnoxiously while other students looked at us like we were a bunch of mental, deranged, lunatics(which in a way, we are).
Thalia and Me: Congratulations You have invented a new kind of stupid. A ‘damage you can never undo’ kind of stupid An ‘open all the cages in the zoo’ kind of stupid ‘Truly, you didn’t think this through?’ kind of stupid Let’s review You took a rumor a few maybe two people knew and refuted it by sharing an affair of which no one has accused you I begged you to take a break, you refused to So scared of what your enemies will do to you You’re the only enemy you ever seem to lose to You know why Jefferson can do what he wants? He doesn’t dignify school-yard taunts with a response! So yeah, congratulations!
Thalia: I lived only to read your letters I look at you and think ‘God, what have we done with our lives and what did it get us?’ That doesn’t wipe the tears or the years away But I’m back in the city and I’m here to stay And you know what I’m here to do?
Me: I’m not here for you.
Me: I know my sister like I know my own mind You will never find anyone as trusting or as kind And a million years ago she said to me ‘this one’s mine’ So I stood by Do you know why? I love my sister more than anything in this life I will choose her happiness over mine every time ELIZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Thalia and Me:Is the best thing in our lives So never lose sight of the fact that you have been blessed with the best wife. Congratulations For the rest of your life Every sacrifice you make is for my sister Give her the best life. Congratulations
Arwen: ….Wut
Thalia and I managed to just sing a song from Hamilton and make Arwen question why she is even friends with us. Yup, just a normal day with the big three! A while later we were called back to our rehearsal areas to retrieve or instruments so we could go into the MUR to play our concert songs with the entire band. I grabbed my flute and ran to walk by my girls. We sat in our seats, the music stands in front of us occupied with large music folders with sheet music for three songs, and a warmup on the left side pocket, info sheets and rehearsal and concert dates on the sheets of paper on the right side receptacle.
Once all the sections were filled with various players with a variety of instruments in each row, the director of music of Foothill Middle, and our Honor Band conductor both stood up at the very front of the room to address us.
“Hello I am Mr. Kaiser, I am currently retired from musical directory but I have decided to conduct the Honor Band because each year I have the privilege of leading dozens of talented students who have been introduced to this elite group.-” That got smiles from everyone one in the room. “-And for the record, I am not the founder of Kaiser Permanente” He said with a wink. Now that got a few laughs out of everyone and enlightened the tension in the room. I guess everyone was just as anxious as I was.
“Now I know how you guys are feeling, probably scared, anxious, but seriously this is just something that will look intimidating from the first approach, but really its just something that will help and imrpove your musical careers. You have to destroy what is destroying you.”
“I’MA QUOTE YOU ON THAT.” Someone from the bass clarinet section shouted shouted. The whole of the students shaking with breathless laughter. Even the conductor and director chuckling with amusement from the students attitude.
As we all settled down and we hushed ourselves we were instructed to take out the warmup sheet and play a B major scale(aka the easiest scale known to music in my opinion.) We then were told to flip through the three songs we were going to rehearse, explaining that they were all sea themed I got excited when I saw “Under the Sea” I got super excited and started looking over the score. We also had another one of my favorite classic songs “The Drunken Sailor” and another three-part song, and when I try to say the name it sounded like I was having a seizure.
But I have realized one thing.
If you put a bunch of talented student musicians with an amazing conductor, all in the same room. Oh my gods.
I have underestimated the power of music.
WE SOUND STUNNING. OH MY GOSH I GOT CHILLS.
I. FORGOT. MY. DANG. NAME.
We first played The Drunken Sailor. I love this song because it sounds like some counterpart symphony of Pirates of the Caribbean(BEST. MUSIC. SCORE. EVER.) The percussion, and bass’s, and concert F instruments, the tubas, the bass clarinets, the trumpets and french horns. The whole band together is so good and amazing. Not even a third of what I expected it to sound. We actually sounded like a group of musicians from the San Fransisco Symphony! And let me tell you, I wasn’t the only one shocked with how remarkable we sounded. You should’ve seen the looks on everyone’s faces, I swear the conductor looked like he had just seen a world phenomenon.
After playing all three songs he praised us like we had just been nominated for a Grammy.
Being in a band… its a feeling that can never be replicated by some sort of simulation. You can’t feel everyone’s heaving breathes syncopate with one another with each rest mark. You can’t feel the bouring eyes of the crowd watching you. You can’t feel the rush of adrenaline when you have a solo or a soli with your group. You can never fear that burst of pride when the large assembly of people stare with shock before clapping. Being able to play music, to sweat bullets when playing, its a good kind of hard. Its the kind that molds you. The music you play and enjoy can tell people more about you than your mouth ever actually could. You can literally feel everyone pouring adoration and ardor into the pieces we play. Oh my gods just… there’s no way to explain the way our hearts squeeze when we fill our souls with passion and zest, the lust for everything you want to do and what your built to. The arts are my way of expressing who I am and showing what i can do. When I write, or draw, or play, I just get this outpouring of vehemency and intensity run through my veins.
At the end of the rehearsal before we were told to go back to pack up in the band room the Mr. Kaiser said a few brief things:
“Okay, I admit, I knew you guys would be good. But this, this is something more and definitely something I didn’t expect. You guys have got spunk and I totally like that. And man when you guys know that we gotta play with grit, you give me savagery.” We all breathed heavily like we just lifted five four pound weights on either of our shoulder. But we all managed to smile with pride.
“So I’ll see you guys next week and remember: Success is the best revenge for anything.” He said before dismissing us. After that we all walked out to the band room. The girls and I in a cluster. As I took apart my flute I thought about how good we sounded on just the first rehearsal, as well as that quote Mr. Kaiser told us. I then met my dad outside and he asked. “So, how was it?” I replied with:
“I forgot my dang name.”