One of the best young curlers in the Okotoks
area knows exactly what the pressure is like going into final end of a big bonspiel.
It’s similar to the feeling he gets when he walks on stage with his fellow members of the Holy Trinity
Academy (HTA) Wind Ensemble for a music festival.
“I feel the pressure is pretty equal,” said Christian Sprinkhuysen, a trumpet player in the ensemble who
happens to throw lead rocks for the Kyler Kleibrink rink. “Whether it is the band or the rink, we all want
to perform to our best and we all know what we have to do and we do it.”
The HTA Wind Ensemble will be one of the school bands strutting their stuff for the Moose Jaw Band and Choral Festival May 13-16. The trip to Saskatchewan is a tune-up for the Alberta Band Directors Association’s Festival of Bands at Red Deer College the following week.
Red Deer is like the LSATs for lawyers for the young musicians.
“It’s like our diploma exams,” said Martin Kennedy, the music instructor at Holy Trinity Academy. “It is our last big festival in which we get adjudicated and get a score and basically tell us how well we are doing.”
The HTA Wind Ensemble has built a dynasty in Red Deer. They earned a superior ranking the past three years, which is the top mark given at the Red Deer festival.
“I think we can get another superior this year, this is a great group of kids,” Kennedy said.
The ensemble is on the homestretch for Red Deer.
Even though you wouldn’t have believed it if you walked into Kennedy’s class on May 1, the approximately 50 students sounded like they were performing a bad Frank Zappa orchestral piece as they individually warmed up during a class on May 1.
However, 15 minutes later, they were no longer individual students blowing randomly into some brass or woodwind, but a fine-tuned band as they practiced Gustav Holts’ Uranus. It’s a tough piece to play — a sure indicator Kennedy believes this band has the chops to perform, according to trumpet player Annie Rosia.
“Mr. Kennedy will give us harder music if we have been able to prove we can do it or something easier if he doesn’t think we have met a certain standard,” Rosia said.
“The people who love band — like we do — strive to get the harder pieces of music.”
Uranus and Canadian composer John Herberman’s The Fisher Who Died in His Bed are two of the pieces the band is going to play in Red Deer.
Sprinkhuysen said the pieces are an indication Kennedy has confidence in the band.
“All our pieces are quite difficult,” Sprinkhuysen said. “Mr. Kennedy knows we can play them. We have taken “Fisher” to a few festivals and we have sounded good.”
The bands are getting in their final licks before the festivals. Katelyn Thompson, one of two oboe players in the band, said she practices every day on top of what she does at school. The oboe players are the ones who first blow their instruments to help get the other ensemble members in tune.
Kennedy was instructing the band on proper tuning of their instruments during class on May 1. It’s something he wants his students to focus on during the final days of preparation.
They aren’t the only ones practicing. So is the guy with the wand — conductor Martin Kennedy.
“Oh, I am always practicing,” Kennedy said. “I drove down to Lethbridge recently and I had the music on and I was waving my hand — just one hand, the other was on the wheel — practicing my conducting.”
If Kennedy should ever get a ticket for his actions, his students might pitch into pay for it. There’s plenty of respect for the former University of Oregon music major student.
“He’s got the mad scientist hair going sometimes, but not at performances,” Thompson said with a laugh. “He’s got a lot of energy and enthusiasm. He never gives up on us.”
To the surprise of band concert neophytes, there is actually some importance to a guy waving a stick in front of people blowing into instruments.
“He guides us completely,” Rosia said of Kennedy’s conducting. “He sets tempo, he can slow it down — he gets everybody starting on the same note.”
Ever the curler, Sprinkhuysen agreed.
“He (Mr. Kennedy) is like a skip in curling,” Sprinkhuysen said. “It doesn’t look like he is doing much, but he is our leader.”
Kennedy won’t have to wave his arm in the car much longer.
The practice is nearly over – they are ready for the tune-up in Moose Jaw and the long day in Red Deer and the students are hoping for a great trip home.
“The highlight for me is coming out with that feeling of satisfaction and being with your friends — you can feel it radiating out of the band on the trip home,” Rosia said.
The wind ensemble will perform in Red Deer on May 23 at 7:40 p.m. at Red Deer College.
Other foothills area schools participating are:
May 22 — Holy Trinity Academy Grade 11 Symphonic Band, 6:20 p.m. to 7 p.m.
May 23 — Red Deer Lake Grades 8 and 9 band, 9:10 a.m. to 9:50 a.m.; Foothills Composite/Alberta High School of Fine Arts Concert Band, 10:30 a.m. to 11:10 a.m.; Foothills Partner School Band, 3 p.m. to 3:40 p.m.
May 24 — Holy Trinity Academy Grade 10 Concert Band, 4:20 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Visit www.albertabandassociation.com for more information on the Red Deer festival and the schedule.
